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COPYRIGHT DEPOEJR 


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Frontispiece 


“It’s Pap!” 





































































































































Grace Harlowe’s Overland 
Riders at Circle O 
Ranch 


By 

JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M. 

Author of The High School Girls Series, The College Girls Series, The 
Grace Harlowe Overseas Series, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders 
on the Old Apache Trail, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders on 
the Great American Desert, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders 
Among the Kentucky Mountaineers, Grace Harlowe’s Over¬ 
land Riders in the Great North Woods, Grace Harlowe’s 
Overland Riders in the High Sierras, Grace Harlowe’s 
Overland Riders in the Yellowstone National 
Park, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders in the 
Black Hills, etc., etc. 


Illustrated 


PHILADELPH IA 

HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 


Copyrighted, 1923, by 
Howard E. Altemus 



K?* 




PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


© Cl A 7 0 5 0 71 
nt* | 



CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Chapter I — Peace in the Coso Valley. 11 

Stacy’s dream is interpreted. Jim-Sam proves to 
be a problem. A guide that could howl like a coyote. 
“Mules, like some fellers, is contrary critters.” Sam’s 
whiskers are expressive. A peace that was rudely 
broken. 


Chapter II — On the Road to Trouble . 26 

The Overlanders prepare for defense. Stacy’s weapon 
a tent stake. Emma Dean in the toils. The shot 
that stopped the roper. “Let ’em have it!” yells the 
guide. All because of the fat boy’s dream. The 
alarm. 


Chapter III — An Invitation to Move . 40 

“Sit tight!” orders Hippy. A caller who threatened 
trouble. Sam Conifer passes the lie. “I reckon I’d 
kill ye whar ye stand!” Hands flash to weapons. 

The stranger is ordered out of camp. When brains 
were mixed. 

Chapter IV — At the “Circle O” Ranch . 46 

Camp made in the foothills of the Cosos. “The Old 
Man wants ter know what ye are doin’ heah!” The 
Overlanders are again ordered to get out. Emma 
explains the “imponderable something.” The dance 
in the bunk-house. A bullet parts Sam Conifer’s 
whiskers. 


5 




6 


CONTENTS 


PAGB 

Chapter V — Overlanders Suffer a Loss . 56 

“Shoot, Sam! Shoot, I tell you!” A mysterious 
shot is fired. Jim finds a trail. A “lovely party” 
spoiled. The Overland Riders find their ponies miss¬ 
ing. Distress at the Circle O. Jim-Sam blame each 
other. 

Chapter VI — Rustlers Are Hard Pressed .... 62 

A question of mules. Emma Dean looks for dreams. 

Sam exchanges shots with a prowler. Stacy Brown 
believes in safety first. Ranchers engage the rustlers 
in a lively battle. Lieutenant Wingate wages an 
unequal fight and loses. 

Chapter VII — A Fight to a Finish . 74 

“Give ’em the rifles!” yells Two-gun Pete. The 
end of the battle. An Overlander is found seriously 
wounded. Tom bears bad news to his companions. 
Elfreda gives first aid. Cowpunchers look on in 
open-mouthed wonder. 

Chapter VIII — The “Dude” Makes Good .... 82 

Hippy is complimented by Two-gun Pete. “What’s 
a hoss when it comes to a scrap?” What Hippy 
Wingate dreamed. Grace Harlowe’s pony is re¬ 
covered. Ranchers help the Overlanders to move. 

Judy Hornby makes an exciting entrance. 

Chapter IX — Judy Speaks Out . 93 

The mountain girl wants to know what love is. Judy 
tries poulticing for a sick heart. “If I could talk 
like that I’d be a real lady.” Overland girls give help¬ 
ful advice. A word that drove a mustang to des¬ 
peration. 





CONTENTS 


7 


PAGE 

Chapter X — The Round-up.102 

“Pap sure was a scream,” declares Judy. The Over¬ 
land Riders witness a thrilling round-up. Stacy Brown 
gets into new difficulties. J. Elfreda is accused of 
frightening a wild steer to death. Bad news from 
up the valley. 

Chapter XI — Hippy Defends the Ranch.115 

Lieutenant Wingate's suspicions aroused. Two 
ruffians are neatly trapped. The ranch-house under 
rifle fire. A ruse that succeeded. “I've got to take 
a chance.” Rifle bullets rip through the old house. 
Disaster again overtakes the Overland Rider. 

Chapter XII — At the Last Moment.124 

An alarm scatters the mountain ruffians. “Hit the 
trail! Hit it hard!” Cowpunchers find the ranch- 
house on fir.e. A dramatic scene in Joe Bindloss’s 
home. Captives give sullen replies. “The herd’s 
stampeded an' Pop's been shot!” cries Idaho Jones. 

Chapter XIII — An Overlander Is Missing .... 133 

Hippy at last regains consciousness. Lieutenant 
Wingate relates the story of the attack on the ranch- 
house. Cowboys howl when they hear the news. 

Stacy Brown mysteriously disappears. “The pris¬ 
oners have got away!” 

Chapter XIV — The Lost Trail.141 

Malcolm Hornby refuses Joe Bindloss’s request. 
“Pap’s got an awful grouch today.” Jim fails to 
follow Chunky's trail. The search is given up for 
the night. Judy acts strangely. “Something has 
happened to Jim!” Sam Conifer meets disaster. 






8 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Chapter XV — Clews That Were Loaded .150 

The old guide finds the trail and a bullet finds him. 

Stacy and Jim are among the missing. Two-gun 
Pete makes a strange discovery. The mystery of 
the carrier pigeons. Birds for a pie. “Wal, I'll be 
shot!” exclaims Joe Bindloss. 

Chapter XVI — The Carrier Pigeons’ Flight . . . 159 

Chunky writes a letter for the Rustlers. ‘‘This 
suspense is killing me!” cries Emma. High ransom 
is demanded for the fat boy. How to follow the 
trail of a bird. The “dove of peace” is liberated. 

“I’ve got it!” shouts Sam Conifer. 

Chapter XVII — Stacy Decides to Leave .168 

How the Overland boy was captured. Mountain 
ruffians make desperate plans. Money that came 
down from the skies. “Put up yer hands, young 
feller!” The fat boy in the toils. Stacy Brown finds 
himself under arrest as a horse thief. 

Chapter XVIII — Trouble at Red Gulch .178 

Carrier pigeons point the way. The guide smells 
smoke. Sam Conifer stalks the rustlers to their 
lair. “Brown ’ll be a dead dude by mornin’!” A 
thunderbolt is hurled at the mountain ruffians. 
Plotters get a rude surprise. 

Chapter XIX — A Duel in the Dark .184 

The magician’s wand. “Yer too yellow to draw!” 

Sam reveals his identity to Mexican Charley. Six to 
one. The outlaw takes a chance and loses. When the 
light was shot out. “That’s what I calls a low-down 
trick!” 





CONTENTS 


9 


PAGE 

Chapter XX — Stacy Wields a Club.194 

The fat boy’s story is not believed. “ All hoss thieves is 
liars!” A barn his prison cell. “Heah’s yer chuck. 

I hope it chokes ye!” Ordered to leave for prison. 
Chunky turns the tables on his jailer and compli¬ 
ments himself. 


Chapter XXI — Judy Brings Tidings.202 

A mysterious shot. Pete gets a bullet hole through 
his hat. No trace of the missing Jim. Judy takes 
her time in telling bad news. “ Sam’s been killed 
and Tom and Hippy wounded!” announces the 
mountain girl. 


Chapter XXII — Riders op the Night .209 

Overland girls go in search of the missing ones. 

Judy Hornby leads the way. The mountain cabin 
found to be empty. Bindloss reads the trail. Startled 
by the sound of shots. The worst is feared. “Fire! 
They’ve set the grass on fire!” 


Chapter XXIII — Racing with Death .218 

Ponies become frantic with fear. Overland Riders feel 
the thrill of the moment. “Faster!” cries the moun¬ 
tain girl. Rifle shots sound nearer. A scene that 
startled the Riders. The duel. A bandit meets his 
reward. 


Chapter XXIV — Farewell to the Cosos .230 

Judy Hornby finds a new “Pap.” Stacy Brown 
still stalked by trouble. “This feller is a hoss thief!” 

When Judy’s dreams came true. 









* 




X 



GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND 
RIDERS AT CIRCLE O 
RANCH 


CHAPTER I 

PEACE IN THE COSO VALLEY 

4 4 OES anyone know where we are at? ’* 

1 wondered Stacy Brown, the last person 
to leave his berth in the car that 

morning. 

“We are in the Coso Valley,” replied Grace 
Harlowe Gray. 

“ I never heard of it,” returned Stacy. “ We 
are still in Southern California, I presume.” 

“ Of course. What a silly question! ” inter¬ 
jected J. Elfreda Briggs laughingly. 

“ Young man, we are nearing our destination. 
If you don’t make haste you will be left,” re¬ 
minded Grace’s husband, Tom Gray. 

“ Left! What a tragedy! ” murmured Emma 
Dean. “ By the way, Chunky, did you dream 
11 



12 


GRACE HARLOWE 


last night? ” she added, placing a hand on the 
fat boy's arm. 

“ Of course I did. What’s the fun in sleeping 
if you don’t dream? I dreamed that I was the 
King of England, and you should have seen — ” 

“ Stacy! ” cried Emma in mock horror. “ How 
unfortunate! To counteract the effect of that 
unhappy dream, try to-night to dream that you 
are a peasant. If you do not, some terrible mis¬ 
fortune is sure to overtake you.” 

“ Piffle! Where do you get that stuff, Emma? 
All right, Thomas. I’ll be ready by the time the 
train stops,” added Stacy, addressing Tom Gray, 
and moving on to the wash room, where he re¬ 
mained until the train began to slow down for 
Carrago, their destination. Carrago was a sleepy 
little far-western town whose only excuse for 
existence was that it was the only trading center 
for the ranchers within a radius of many miles 
in the broad valley that lay between the Argus 
and Coso ranges, a remote section of the country 
selected by Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders for 
their regular summer’s outing in the saddle. 

The scenery that morning had held the at¬ 
tention of the entire party with the exception of 
Stacy, who had been too busy sleeping to give 
heed to mere scenery, and the passengers were 
already detraining at Carrago when he finally 
came rushing through the car. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


13 


“ Shall I brush you off? ” asked the porter, 
facing him, broom in hand. 

“ Brush me off? ” frowned Stacy, who thus far 
had avoided the porter. “ Well, no. I reckon 
that Til just get off in the ordinary way,” he 
added, hurrying out to the vestibule of the Pull¬ 
man and down to the station platform. 

“ That was rude of you, Stacy,” rebuked Miss 
Briggs, who had heard the boy’s retort. 

“Rude? Huh! Do you think I want to be 
brushed off the train? ” 

“Oh, Stacy! You are as hopeless as ever, 
aren’t you? ” laughed Grace. “ Oh, this wonder¬ 
ful air! ” she cried enthusiastically, turning to 
her companions. “ Tom, aren’t you going to look 
for the guide who was to meet us here? ” 

Tom Gray said that Hippy Wingate was at¬ 
tending to that, and just then the Overlanders 
saw him halt before two bewhiskered natives 
standing on the station platform side by side and 
assuming almost identically the same pose. Both 
were old men. Their faces were seamed and 
tanned, their shoulders stooped, and as they 
stood with heads tilted back until their long 
beards protruded at almost the same angle, 
they presented a picture that made the Over¬ 
landers smile. 

“ I am looking for Jim-Sam, who is to guide 
us,” announced Hippy, addressing the men. 


14 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ We’re Jim-Sam,” answered the men in chorus. 
“ Be ye the dudes? ” 

“ Well, not exactly,” interjected Stacy Brown. 

“ This is the party that engaged Jim-Sam,” 
repeated Hippy patiently. “ Which of you is 
Jim-Sam? ” 

“ Both of us,” added the taller of the two men. 
“ I’m Sam, an’ this heah galoot standin’ side me 
is Jim, an’ — ” 

“ I’ll have ye understand that I ain’t no galoot,” 
objected Jim heatedly, shaking a finger under 
Sam’s nose. 

“Hold on, you two! Let me get this clear,” 
interposed Tom Gray, stepping up to them. “ Do 
you mean that we have engaged, not one guide, 
but two? ” 

Sam explained that he and Jim were “ pards,” 
and that they had always worked together, and 
“ fit an’ died together ” these many years, adding 
further, that Jim, being a spavined, ring-boned 
old cayuse wasn’t much good to anyone, himself 
included, but that he could hold the horses and 
howl like a coyote at the pack-horses to keep 
them going. 

“Haw, haw! ” exploded Stacy. 

“I don’t know about this,” muttered Hippy, 
removing his hat and mopping his forehead. 

“ Are you two gentlemen heavy eaters? ” ques¬ 
tioned Emma. “The reason I ask is, that we 


'AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


15 

already have two powerful eaters in this outfit, 
and I doubt if we could stand to feed more like 
them.” 

“ We kin rustle our own grub,” promised Jim. 

“ I suggest that we go into executive session 
and talk this over,” urged Miss Briggs. 

The suggestion was approved and the Over¬ 
landers withdrew for discussion, Jim and Sam 
holding their positions, apparently the most dis¬ 
interested persons on the station platform. In¬ 
quiry developed that the salary named in the 
letter of Jim-Sam covered the services of both, 
so, after talking the matter over, the Overland 
Riders decided to take on this strange pair to 
guide them. The fact that the guides owned 
their own ponies and pack-mules was an added 
inducement. Otherwise it would be necessary to 
hire or buy pack-animals. 

Hippy Wingate told the guides that they had 
been accepted, then he introduced each member 
of the party to them- Nora Wingate laughingly 
warned the pair that they were embarking on a 
perilous undertaking when they set out with the 
Overland Riders, whereat Jim-Sam’s whiskers 
stiffened, but the owners made no reply. 

Emma Dean, speaking confidentially to Hippy, 
objected to guides wearing such long whiskers, 
though she thought the men themselves might do 
very well. Emma was of the opinion that such 


16 


GRACE HARLOWE 


whiskers were not sanitary, and averred that if 
San Antone, who had guided them through the 
Black Hills, were present he would correct the 
fault by shooting off the whiskers without making 
the slightest fuss about it. 

Tom interrupted Emma’s conversation by 
urging that the Overland ponies be unloaded at 
once, the car containing them having, by this 
time, been shunted to a switch. 

“ When do ye reckon on gittin’ out o’ heah? ” 
asked Sam. 

“ We shall be ready by the time you get your 
mules and packs ready,” answered Hippy. “ This 
outfit moves without fuss, but it occasionally 
makes quite a racket in doing so. Get busy, 
boys! ” 

Jim-Sam turned away, still side by side, each 
carrying himself with a dignity that made the 
Overlanders laugh. While the provisions and 
other equipment were being purchased by the 
women of the party, Tom and Hippy unloaded the 
ponies, and Stacy, uttering many grunts and 
groans, piled their equipment on the ground near 
the stock car. The ponies were then secured to 
the tie-rail in front of the general store, where 
they were looked over and felt of by every man 
in the village, including several cowboys from 
neighboring ranches. 

During the unloading, Hippy and Tom had 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


17 


noticed a cowboy sitting on a mustang some little 
distance from them, observing the Overland 
operations with keen interest. 

“ Who is that fellow? ” asked Hippy of a 
bystander. 

The native shook his head, and the horseman, 
seeing that he had attracted attention to himself, 
jerked his pony about and trotted away. 

“ I don’t like the looks of that chap,” declared 
Tom. 

“ I reckon he’s all right. Most cowpunchers 
look tougher than they really are, though it is 
quite possible that we may meet up with some 
real rough-necks. I have heard that they are not 
difficult to find in the Coso range,” replied Hippy. 

“ Oh, there come our heavenly twins,” cried 
Emma, who had returned from the store with an 
armful of packages. 

Jim and Sam had just appeared dragging a pair 
of unwilling mules, behind which, saddled and 
bridled, trailed two long-haired mustangs. The 
two men were alternately arguing and berating 
each other and threatening the mules. 

“ What kind of an outfit is this? ” wondered 
Emma, her merry eyes regarding the scene. 

“ You may search me,” was Hippy’s laughing 
reply. “ Here come the other girls. Good 
gracious! Where do they expect to stow all that 
stuff? Jim-Sam, pull up here and sling your 

8 - Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


18 


GRACE HARLOWE 


packs. Is that as fast as those mules can travel? 
If so you had better leave them at home." 

The guides were too busy arguing to give heed 
to Hippy's words, but when they reached the 
station platform they took hold of the work with 
surprising alacrity and began rolling packs with 
skillful hands. 

“ What are they? ” asked Emma, pointing to 
the lazy mules. 

“ Jest mules," answered Jim without looking 
up, and Sam echoed his statement. “ Don’t have 
to have no names. When my long-haired cayuse 
does somethin’ he oughtn’t, Sam gives him er 
kick, an’ when Sam’s critter cuts up capers I give 
his’n the boot.’’ 

“ No names? ’’ wondered Emma. “ Yes, but 
what do you call them when you want them to 
come to you? ’’ 

“Missie, what we calls ’em sometimes ain’t 
sootable fer a young woman to hear," grinned 
Jim. 

“ Then kindly see that you do not call them," 
retorted Emma, turning away. 

The Overlanders observed that their guides 
now wore heavy revolvers and that the saddle- 
boot of each held a rifle, which aroused ap¬ 
prehension in the minds of at least two of the 
girls. Jim-Sam, however, assured them that the 
Coso Valley and the mountain ranges on either 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


19 


side of it were as peaceful as “ Sunday meetin’,” 
and, further, that “ nothin’ ” ever happened 
there. Something did threaten to happen, 
though, when it came to lashing the packs to the 
mules, and Jim-Sam instantly became involved 
in a violent argument as to how the packs should 
be “ thrown,” the two men in their anger shaking 
belligerent fists under each other’s nose until they 
nearly came to blows. 

“ If I had a disposition like your’n I’d go shoot 
myself,” raged Jim. 

“ If I was a cantankerous cuss like you I’d go 
live with the coyotes where I could snarl all day 
an’ bark all night. Git outer my way afore I 
soak ye in the jaw! ” threatened Sam.. 

“That’s right, Sam. Hit him! ” urged Stacy 
Brown. “ He isn’t any good.” 

“ Yes, he is, too! Don’t ye say nothin’ agin my 
pardner. I ain’t standin’ fer nothin’ like that.” 

“ Here, here! ” interrupted Tom Gray. “ Stacy* 
let these men alone and pack your pony. Jim- 
Sam, you will stop your quarreling and do your 
work or we may change our minds about taking 
you along.” 

“You understand, we wish to head for the 
Bindloss ranch — the Circle O Ranch, I believe 
they call it. We do not know Bindloss, but we 
propose to get acquainted with him.” Hippy 
grinned as he said it. 


20 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ This really promises to be a peaceful journey,” 
observed Miss Briggs solemnly, whereat the Over¬ 
land girls gave way to the merriment that for 
some moments they had been restraining, then 
preparations for the start were resumed with 
renewed speed and vigor. 

Departure for the Circle 0 was made within an 
hour. The Circle 0 was a ranch where a friend 
of Lieutenant Hippy Wingate had put up while 
on a hunting trip in the mountains some time 
before, and it was because of what his friend had 
told him of Old Joe Bindloss and his ranch that 
Hippy decided to take in the Circle O on their 
summer’s ride. 

The start was accomplished to the accompani¬ 
ment of shouts and yells from Jim-Sam to get 
the mules started and headed in the right direc¬ 
tion as w T ell as to keep them going. It was a task 
that proved too much for the old guides, who, 
finally, after getting well out in the valley, rode 
on ahead with the Overlanders. The pack-mules, 
finding themselves being left behind, increased 
their pace and soon caught up with the outfit. 

“ That’s the way with mules. Contrary critters 
jest like some fellers I know of,” volunteered Jim, 
giving Sam a withering glance. “ If ye wants ’em 
to go back’ards jest try to drive ’em for’ards.” 

“ An’ then agin, some fellers is so gosh darn 
stubborn they won’t go either way when ye tells 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


21 


’em to go t’other,” retorted Sam. “ Folks, git 
yer appetites workin’ fer we’ll soon be eatin’.” 

Luncheon that first day was taken sitting on 
the sand by a water hole, and was a brief affair, 
for Jim-Sam had a camping place in mind, to 
reach which meant a long, hard ride. It was 
some time after nightfall when they arrived there, 
and still later when the lazy mules dragged them¬ 
selves in, uttering long-drawn brays of satisfac¬ 
tion or dissatisfaction or whatever it might be. 
The animals were quickly relieved of their packs 
and turned loose to roll and feed on the desert 
sage through the night. All day long Jim-Sam 
had argued and quarreled, and by the time they 
made camp they had reached a point where they 
no longer spoke to each other. 

“ What are we going to do with them? ” 
wondered Tom Gray frowningly. 

“ Keep them, of course,” answered Grace. 
“ Tom, they are a real treat, but if Stacy and 
Emma do not stop stirring them up we may have 
to send for the sheriff of the county. Just look 
at them now,” she added laughingly. 

Jim and Sam were sitting back to back un¬ 
rolling packs, each man muttering to himself his 
opinion of the other. Later in the evening the 
Overlanders got them talking and drew the guides 
out. It developed that the pair had been pros¬ 
pectors nearly all their lives; that they had loved 


22 


GRACE HARLOWE 


and fought each other for so many years that they 
had lost count of them, and when their halting 
story had finally been finished, the Overland 
Riders looked upon Jim-Sam with new apprecia¬ 
tion. Emma Dean characterized them as a pair 
of “ beloved vagabonds.” 

This having been their first day in the saddle 
since the previous season, the Overlanders were 
saddle-weary, and some of them were sore and 
lame. Miss Briggs hobbled about painfully and 
complainingly, and Nora Wingate lay by the little 
campfire rolled in her blanket, the picture of woe. 
Emma and Grace, however, appeared not to be 
suffering the slightest degree of discomfort. 

Jim cooked the supper, and it was a good one, 
for he made biscuit and served them hot, soaked 
in bacon gravy, a luxury to which the Riders had 
not been accustomed. They made the most of 
their opportunity, and Stacy Brown’s appetite, 
as usual, was not fully satisfied until some time 
after his companions had finished supper. Then 
all hands gathered about the fire for a chat. 

“ Samuel, do you ever dream? ” questioned 
Emma after thoughtfuly regarding the old guide 
for some moments. 

“Sure I do, Missie. I dreamed last night 
that that critter — that ornery mule o’ Jim’s — 
kicked the everlasting daylight out o’ me,” 
growled Sam. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


23 


“ Oh, you don’t mean it? That was fine,” 
glowed Emma. 

“ Eh? ” Sam’s whiskers stood out belligerently. 
The old guide’s whiskers could express varying 
shades of emotion. 

“ Your dream means that you are going to have 
good luck — the best ever. Perhaps you are 
about to discover a gold mine or a hole in the 
ground where one has been, or something like 
that,” bubbled Emma. 

“ Wrong up here again,” muttered Stacy 
Brown, significantly tapping his head with a 
finger. 

“ I should say that Emma has read one of those 
five-cent dream books,” suggested Miss Briggs. 

“ It is my opinion that she has been fitting her¬ 
self for a lunatic seminary — cemeter — sanita¬ 
rium,” corrected Stacy. 

“ Tell us about it,” urged Grace, smiling over 
at Miss Dean. 

“ I will if you folks won’t laugh at me. I am 
a student of Professor Freud’s new science of 
dreams,” announced Emma with dignity. “ The 
professor has demonstrated beyond question that 
there is an imponderable quality within us — ” 

“You mean hot biscuit and gravy,” inter¬ 
jected Hippy Wingate. “ Since I overate this 
evening I surely have an imponderable quality in 
my midst,” he added amid much laughter. 


24 


GRACE HARLOWE 


Emma elevated a disdainful chin. 

“ I see nothing funny in a scientific discussion/ 1 
she retorted. “ As I was about to say when so 
rudely interrupted, Professor Freud has conclu¬ 
sively proved that every dream has its meaning — 
that the imponderable quality in the subconscious 
mind never ceases to work; that it even works 
when we sleep, and — ” 

“ Old Subconscious ought to join a union,” sug¬ 
gested Stacy. 

“ And that, if we will but learn a few simple 
rules, we shall be able to interpret those dreams 
and be better able to avoid many perils as well as 
to take advantage of real opportunities. Always 
let the imponderable quality have its way,” urged 
Emma. 

Jim-Sam’s whiskers drooped, and the Over¬ 
landers repressed their laughter. 

“ Perhaps you yourself might dream out the 
solution of a mystery for us,” suggested Grace, 
“ I mean as to the identity and purpose of the 
horseman who has been riding a parallel course 
with us all day, evidently keeping us under 
observation.” 

The guides gave her a quick, keen look. 

“Miss, I reckon as ye ain’t no tenderfoot,” 
observed Sam dryly. 

“ A man following us? ” cried Nora. “ It has 
come already! I knew it would. I knew that 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


25 


trouble would follow this outfit, just as it has 
done from the moment we set out over the Old 
Apache Trail right on down until we ended our 
vacation in the Black Hills last summer.” 

Others of the party had observed the solitary 
horseman, but had attached no particular signifi¬ 
cance to his traveling in the same direction that 
they were following. 

“ Watching us, do you think? ” wondered 
Emma. 

“ What about him, Jim-Sam? ” demanded Tom 
Gray. 

“ Wal, I reckons mebby he is the feller that 
was hangin’ ’round when ye folks was unloadin’ 
at Carrago. He was a snoopin’, an’ I don’t 
reckon as he was doin’ it fer no good. I didn’t 
like the look of him nohow,” growled Jim. 

“ Ye ain’t dreamed nothin’ ’bout that, has ye, 
Miss Dean? ” asked Sam. 

“ No. Not yet. However, in case it means 
trouble for us either I or one of the others will 
get a reaction in advance and —” 

“ Ha, ha! ” laughed Hippy. “ A reaction in ad¬ 
vance! That surely is a new one. Were Freud 
to hear that he himself surely would have a bad 
attack of nightmare.” 

“ I mean that one of us will feel that imponder¬ 
able quality stirring within us,” explained Emma, 
her color rising. “ We shall know. No harm 


26 


GRACE HARLOWE 


can come to us without our being warned in 
advance. I —” 

A volley of revolver shots punctuated the silence 
of the desert night — shots close at hand, accom¬ 
panied by yells, hoots and howls, and the thud¬ 
ding of many unshod hoofs. 


CHAPTER II 

ON THE ROAD TO TROUBLE 

“ AT ERCIFUL heaven! What is that? ” 

\/1 cried Nora Wingate, the color rush- 
-L ▼ J- i n g to her cheeks, then instantly 
receding, leaving them blanched with fear. 

The Overland Riders were, for the moment, too 
startled to move, and it was Jim and Sam who 
first sprang to their feet. 

“ Look out! They aire comm’! ” warned Sam. 

The girls ran for the protection of their tents, 
with the exception of Emma Dean, who appeared 
to be too frightened to stir. Tom and Hippy 
were on their feet a second or so behind Jim-Sam, 
each with a hand on his revolver holster, while 
Stacy had disappeared on the dark side of his 
tent. Stacy Brown always believed in safety first, 



AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


27 


and he seldom lost many seconds in applying that 
principle. 

All this occurred within the space of a few 
seconds, during which the shooting and the shout¬ 
ing had ceased, but the hoof-beats of ponies 
sounded much nearer to the camp. Then the 
Overlanders saw them. Wild riders they were, 
shadowy figures in the night, keeping just beyond 
the flickering rays shed by the campfire, but 
circling the camp, racing their mustangs. Once 
more their shrill penetrating yells split the silence, 
followed by a rattling fire of revolver shots. 

“ They’re shootin’ into the air. They don’t 
mean no harm. Keep steady! ” urged Jim. 

“ Shoo them off, Jim-Sam! Somebody will be 
shooting lower than that if this keeps on for 
many minutes,” warned Hippy Wingate. 

“Git out o’ this, ye galoots! ” yelled Sam as 
one rider, bolder than the others, drove his pony 
right through the camp. The animal hurdled the 
campfire and ran between two of the Overland 
tents. Yells from his companions greeted the 
achievement. 

The night rider repeated the performance, but 
this time Jim-Sam fired at the same instant, one 
bullet snipping off the rider’s hat, the other fan¬ 
ning the hind hoofs of the pony. 

“ Now you’ve done it, you poor, crazy coyote! ” 
roared Sam. 


28 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ I didn’t. You did it yourself. I fanned the 
critter’s feet,” retorted Jim. “ Look out, they’re 
cornin’ fer keeps this time! ” 

They were. 

The wild night riders had circled out on the 
desert until joined by the man who had twice 
ridden through the Overland camp, then they 
drove their ponies straight at the camp, uttering 
thrilling yells and shooting into the air. They 
were upon the camp before the Overland Riders 
fully realized what their attackers were doing. 
The man in the lead rode down the little tent 
beside which Stacy Brown was in hiding, and 
Stacy, who had armed himself with a tent stake, 
hurled it at the fellow as he passed. The stake 
reached its mark — the neck of the rider — and 
the man sagged in his saddle as the pony rushed 
on into the darkness. 

“ I hit him! ” yelled Stacy. 

The rest of the riders went through with a rush. 

“ Do that agin’ an’ I’ll wing ye! ” howled Sam. 

The attackers did it again. The tents no longer 
being a safe refuge, the girls ran out and stood 
by the campfire so that the night riders might 
see and avoid them. Emma stood a few yards 
from them, where she had been standing since 
the excitement began. This time the riders rode 
down the rest of the tents, with weapons still 
shooting into the air. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


29 


Sam had returned his revolver to its holster, 
but a nervous hand trembled on the butt of the 
weapon — trembled not because of any fear of 
its owner, but because all the nervous tension of a 
trained gunman was centered in it. The riders 
were growing wilder with each passing second, 
and Sam was growing proportionately calmer, 
with shoulders slouched forward and whiskers 
standing out at a sharper angle. It was plain 
that nothing short of shooting with intent to 
wound or kill could stay the orgy of those wild 
night riders and their mustangs whose flashing 
heels were a peril to every member of the Over¬ 
land party. Both Jim and Sam, knowing that 
aggressive action on their part would bring down 
the wrath of the riders, hesitated. 

There came a moment, however, when restraint 
was no longer possible. The horsemen had 
cleared the camp and were turning for another 
sweep over it when a rider on a dust-covered pony 
came galloping into the light of the campfire. 

“ Whoo-pee! ” he howled, his lariat in a great 
loop spinning over his head. 

“ Look out! ” roared Jim warningly, for he saw 
where the rope was going to drop. 

His warning failed of its purpose. The lariat 
came down in a flash, and the great loop, holding 
its form in a perfect circle, dropped neatly over 
the head of Emma Dean. 


30 


GRACE HARLOWE 


At first Emma did not realize what had hap¬ 
pened, but as the coil suddenly tightened about 
her waist she uttered a scream. Her feet left 
their footing and Emma measured her length on 
the ground, the coil gripping her tighter and 
tighter, though the roper had checked the speed of 
his mustang and was letting the rope slip slowly 
through his hands. 

Sam’s hand was trembling on the butt of his 
revolver more agitated than before. The tremb¬ 
ling ceased suddenly, and there followed a twitch 
of the wrist, a flash, and a sharp report. The 
roper uttered a yell and let go of his lariat. Sam’s 
shot had shattered his wrist. 

Hippy sprang to Emma and freed her of the 
lariat. 

“ Git down! ” yelled Sam. “ The varmits is 
goin’ to shoot! ” 

The “ varmits ” shot lower this time, but every 
member of the Overland party had taken to the 
shadows and thrown themselves down, as the 
rider who had roped Emma dashed out holding 
his wounded wrist, yelling to his companions to 
take it out of the man who had shot him. 

By this time Tom and Hippy had gotten their 
rifles and were watching and waiting, fully ex¬ 
pecting further and more serious trouble. It came 
in the shape of another charge of the night 
riders. This time their yells were savage. The 


31 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 

new note in them told the Overlanders what was 
coming. 

“ Let 'em have it, fellers! ” urged Jim. 

“ Girls, keep down! ” called Grace Harlowe, as 
Emma Dean once more stood up. “ Isn't once 
enough for you? " 

Emma permitted herself to sink to the ground, 
just in time to avoid a rattling fire of revolver 
shots from the raiders. 

At this juncture, Jim and Sam let go with 
their heavy revolvers, followed a few seconds later 
by the crash of the two Overland rifles. That 
some of their bullets had taken effect the Over¬ 
landers knew by the angry yells of their attackers. 
A rider's pony went down on its nose at the very 
edge of the camp and its rider plunged forward 
to the ground, whereupon the pony staggered to 
its feet and limped away, but the rider lay where 
he had fallen. 

“ Jim-Sam, don't kill 'em! " begged Tom Gray. 
“ Drive 'em off, that's all." 

The fellow’s companions, leaning from saddles, 
dragged the wounded man away, whence he was 
flung on a mustang and carried off, but how badly 
the fellow was hurt the Overlanders had no means 
of knowing. They kept on shooting just the same, 
backed up now by the weapons of Jim-Sam, and 
it took but a few shots from the heavy weapons 
to drive the raiders away. 


32 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“Now, ye infernal idiot! Do ye reckon ye’ve 
done enough fer one night? ” demanded Jim 
sarcastically. 

“ I reckon I done too much when I saved yer 
miserable hide from them raiders,” flung back 
Sam. “ Anybody git hurt? ” 

“ I believe that I am the only casualty, but it 
was only my feelings that were hurt by the fall 
that my pride got,” replied Emma. “ This is 
indeed a peaceful valley, isn't it, Sam? Nothing 
ever happens here. Oh, no! ” 

Suppressed chuckles greeted Emma’s retort, but 
Jim and Sam had already run out of camp to 
make certain that the raiders had really gone 
away. The guides found that they had departed, 
but fearing that the attackers might return, they 
decided to watch the camp for the rest of the 
night. 

The Overland Riders, acting upon the sugges¬ 
tion of Sam, were putting out the fire and begin¬ 
ning to get the camp in condition for sleeping, 
when Stacy Brown strolled into the scene. He 
had not been seen since the attack began. 

“ My tent is all down and torn,” he complained. 

" So are others,” reminded Nora. “ What shall 
we do about it? ” 

“ Nothing until daylight,” answered Tom 
briefly. 

“ I suppose I am responsible for driving those 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


33 


ruffians away,” boasted the fat boy. “ I hit that 
fellow an awful wallop with a tent stake when 
he went past me, and that made the rest of the 
gang more careful. Think of it! I didn't have to 
fire a shot to do it, either! ” 

“ Yes. You did it all, little man. But if you 
love us, never again dream that you are the King 
of England or the Emperor of the Cannibal 
Islands. I read in that dream of yours that some¬ 
thing terrible was going to happen. Oh, Sam! 
That was a wonderful shot of yours,” she compli¬ 
mented glowingly, turning to the guide as he 
stalked in, combing his whiskers with his hand. 
“ It was perfectly adorable of you to shoot that 
fellow after he had roped me. And such a shot! 
Did you mean to hit him in the wrist or did you 
shoot at the pony’s feet? ” questioned Emma inno¬ 
cently. 

Sam’s whiskers bristled. 

“ I reckon I hit what I shot at,” he answered 
briefly. 

“ How wonderful! I wish I could shoot like 
that.” She tapped his holster, and smiled up into 
the weatherbeaten face. 

“ You kin. I’ll larn ye, Missie. You’ve got 
the feel of a gun in yer make-up. We’ll talk 
about it later on.” 

“ Yes,” agreed Tom Gray. “ Other matters are 
of more importance at the moment. What have 

3 — Grace Harlowe at Circle O Ranch 


34 GRACE HARLOWE 

you to say about the attack on us? What does 
it mean? ” 

“ I reckon they aire a lot of wild cowboys that 
wanted to have some fun with us,” drawled Sam. 

“ No. I don’t agree with you,” spoke up Grace. 
“ They were too savage for men bent on having 
fun with a party of campers. I have been 
wondering if the mysterious horseman, that kept 
abreast of us all day, had anything to do with 
the raid? ” 

“ Cowboys on a spree,” persisted Sam. 

“ Ain’t no such thing,” interjected Jim, coming 
in in time to hear his partner’s assertion. “ Any 
galoot with a spoonful o’ brains under his hair 
would know better ’n that. Them’s wild horse 
hunters! ” 

“ Huh! Know it all, don’t ye? ” leered Sam. 

“ Have to, bein’ as I’m hitched up with you.” 

The laughter of the Overlanders put an end to 
the argument of the two guides, following which 
preparations for the night were resumed. It was 
decided not to try to mend the tents until day¬ 
light, which meant that some of the party must 
sleep on the ground in the open. J. Elfreda Briggs 
objected loudly. 

“ There are rattlesnakes here! I saw one today. 
What if one should crawl into my blanket in the 
night? I know I should die of fright.” 

“ Silly!” rebuked Emma. “If such a thing 


35 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 

should occur, Ill tell you what to do. Don’t move 
a muscle nor make a sound, but call for Sam, and 
he will shoot the head off the reptile without so 
much as disturbing your rest.” 

“ Emma Dean, your logic is overwhelming. As 
a lawyer I fully appreciate it, and I thank you 
for the suggestions. Without moving and with¬ 
out speaking, I will yell for Sam and he will fan 
my cheek with a bullet, and during it all I shall 
slumber on as peacefully as a babe in its cradle. 
Lovely! ” 

“ Never mind the snakes. Turn in! ” ordered 
Hippy. 

An hour later the camp was asleep and just 
outside of it prowled Jim and Sam, halting to 
growl at each other when they met on their 
rounds. Only once during the night was the quiet 
disturbed. About two o’clock in the morning 
Jim-Sam heard a body of horsemen moving. It 
was but a faint thudding that was borne to their 
ears, and after listening for some time they heard 
the hoof-beats die away in the distance. 

“Glad we ain’t got to do no more shootin’,” 
observed Sam. “Might wake up the gals and 
that shore would be too bad. Say, Jim, that 
little Missie Dean, with the freckled face like a 
speckled trout, shore’s got spunk.” 

“A-huh! Mebby she’ll lend ye some of it,” 
retorted Jim. 


36 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ Shet up! ” growled Sam, and strode away for 
another round of the camp. 

A pack of coyotes at this juncture barked in 
a yelping chorus, and the Overlanders heard them 
but only faintly, for it was now a familiar sound 
to them after their many nights in the wilder 
places of their native land. 

Morning dawned bright and beautiful. The 
day promised to be warm, and, as Elfreda Briggs 
opened her eyes, her first thought was of snakes; 
and her next, the sweet, pungent, penetrating 
fragrance of sage which lay heavy on the morning 
air. A cautious investigation showed that no 
serpent had taken refuge in her blanket, whereat 
Elfreda Briggs heaved a deep sigh of relief. 

Sam stood a short distance from her, whiskers 
standing out, shading his eyes with a hand as he 
gazed over the surrounding country. He stood 
straight like an Indian, and Elfreda found her¬ 
self studying this strange old man of the hills and 
the desert — studying him with a new interest. 
He was rather above medium height with the 
small hips of a rider. His eyes were faintly gray, 
and his was the lean, strong face of the man of 
the open, a face that was lined with wrinkles, 
and as he gazed there was a look of nobility about 
it that held her fascinated. 

The guide turned suddenly and saw her. He 
smiled and passed a hand over his whiskers. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


37 


“ What is it, Sam? ” questioned Elfreda. 

“ Mornin’! Nothin but a little cloud o’ dust. 
Might have been made by a hoss or a little wind- 
pocket.” 

The Overlanders now began to sit up and rub 
their eyes. 

“ Breakfast is nigh ready. That no ’count 
pard o’ mine is fryin’ the bacon an’ I reckon he’s 
boiled the coffee till it ain’t fit to feed to coyotes,” 
observed Sam. 

“ Do coyotes drink coffee? ” questioned Emma, 
blinking in the strong morning light. 

“ I reckon they takes somethin’ like that to 
keep ’em awake nights,” answered Sam, whereat 
the Overlanders laughed and began throwing off 
their blankets, all now fully awake. 

The camp looked to be a wreck, but a hurried 
examination revealed that it was not as bad as 
it looked. There were rents in the flattened tents 
that would call for the work of the women to 
repair, and some of the packs had been trampled 
on by the raiding ponies. 

It was decided to put tents and equipment 
in condition before starting out, and this took 
nearly half of the forenoon, so the start was not 
made until after luncheon. 

Not a human being had been seen all that 
morning, nothing of a disturbing nature had 
occurred except the dust cloud that Sam had dis- 


38 


GRACE HARLOWE 


covered. A few hours after they set out, how¬ 
ever, a horseman was discovered in the far dis¬ 
tance, sitting motionless in his saddle. He did 
not move until the Overland party had proceeded 
some two miles, whereupon he started along on a 
parallel course. 

“ It is our mysterious horseman, I am positive/’ 
announced Grace, after a long look through her 
binoculars. 

At Hippy’s suggestion the party changed their 
course and headed directly for the course that the 
stranger was following. Shortly after that he 
too changed his course. Several similar experi¬ 
ments were made by the Overlanders, and always 
with the same result. It became plain to them 
that the mysterious horseman was keeping them 
under observation, but for what reason not even 
Jim-Sam seemed to be able to guess. 

These deviations had carried the Overlanders 
some distance out of their way, and to reach 
their proposed camping place for that night would 
necessitate traveling after dark, so the guides 
decided to camp at the nearest water hole, which 
proved to be located in the foothills. There the 
foliage was greener and fresher, and bunches of 
grass made fine grazing for the ponies. 

Supper was an enjoyable affair that evening, 
especially so because Jim and Sam enlivened the 
occasion by wrangling over the way that Jim had 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


39 


cooked the beans for their mess. Jim, finally 
becoming too enraged to eat, got up and stalked 
away, whereupon Sam gravely ate his own por¬ 
tion, and then finished all that Jim had left. 

The party had barely finished supper when the 
familar hoof-beats of a rapidly riding party of 
horsemen were heard. The Overlanders were on 
their feet in an instant, each member of the party 
hurriedly throwing on his holster, then looking 
to Jim-Sam for orders. 

“ I reckon nobody ain't goin’ to do no shootin' 
till I've had a first crack at the cayuses,” ordered 
Sam. 

The Overland Riders tensed their muscles and 
their nerves for what they believed was to be a 
battle in earnest. 


40 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER III 

AN INVITATION TO MOVE 

i4 rn HEY’VE stopped! ” breathed Grace. 

“ One of 'em hain’t, answered 
A Jim. “ He’s cornin’ on.” 

“Jim-Sam, you sit tight, both of you. I’ll 
talk with him,” said Hippy, stepping forward 
a little to get the light of the campfire at his 
back. 

A man on a gray bronco rode out of the 
shadows at a slow trot, and pulled up a few yards 
from the camp where he sat surveying the outfit. 
No one spoke, but the Overlanders were ready 
for any hostile move. 

After a few seconds the horseman slipped from 
his saddle, tossed the bridle-rein over the pommel, 
and clanked towards the Overlanders. Hippy 
stepped forward to meet him. The newcomer 
was short and swarthy. He wore a Mexican 
sombrero, fancifully decorated; a gun swung at 
his hip and a row of brass-tipped cartridges 
showed in his belt. Black, searching eyes swept 
from one to another of the Overland Riders, 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


41 


finally returning to Hippy Wingate and resting on 
him with a challenge in their depths. 

“ Well! Now that you have given us the once¬ 
over, what's the big idea? ” demanded Hippy. 

“Who be you?" snapped the horseman. 

“ I might ask the same question." 

“ Don’t git funny. It ain’t healthy," warned 
the fellow. 

“We are here for reasons best known to our¬ 
selves, which can be of no interest to you. Are 
you one of the party that attacked us last night? " 

“ No, I don’t know nothin’ ’bout that." 

“ Then what do you want here? " 

“To tell you to git out! You ain’t got no 
business here. Pack up an’ mush out o’ this, an’ 
if you don’t do it fast enough I’ve got boys that’ll 
help you along." 

Jim-Sam were getting nervous, but they were 
obeying orders. Tom Gray stepped forward and 
asked the reason for the stranger’s demand. 

“ These heah is grazin’ grounds fer stock, and 
the man that owns them don’t ’low no others on 
his land. Yer stock is eatin’ up the grass that 
belongs to his cattle, so you’ll have to hike out 
of this heah valley, and do it quick." 

“Stranger! Who is this feller that owns this 
range? ’’ drawled Sam. 

“Hornby! Malcolm Hornby of the ‘ Double 
Q ’ ranch," was the prompt reply. 


42 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“Stranger, I ain’t particular ’bout stirrin’ up 
trouble, bein’ an old man and a little rheumatic 
in the joints, an’ ’specially in the trigger finger, 
but what would ye say if I said ye was a liar? ” 
asked Sam half humorously, though the expres¬ 
sion in his eyes was not in harmony with his tone. 

“ I reckon I’d kill ye whar ye stand! ” shot 
back the fellow, flushing hotly under his tan. 

“ So? ” nodded the guide. 

“ Is what this man says the truth? ” demanded 
Tom Gray, turning to Sam. 

“ This heah land don’t b’long to Hornby. 
Mebby he grazes his stock heah, but this grass 
don’t b’long to nobody. We got as much right to 
graze our stock heah as he has, an’ that’s all that’s 
to say ’bout it.” 

“You have your answer, Mr. Man. I don’t 
know your game, but it is my opinion that you 
are not only what this gentleman has called you, 
but that you are bad medicine as well,” declared 
Tom Gray, looking the caller squarely in the eyes. 

“ Meanin’ that I’m a liar? ” 

“ I reckon that’s about the size of it.” 

“ Get out of here! ” commanded Hippy sharply. 
“We can take care of ourselves.” 

The stranger’s hand flew to his holster, but 
there the hand paused. 

“ Easy thar! Don’t draw,” warned Sam whose 
own right hand hovered near his weapon. “ It 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


43 


ain’t safe. You might hurt somebody, or mebby 
I might hurt you, an’ that wouldn’t do nohow 
before these young women who don’t like to see 
a feller git hurt. But if you’ve got to draw, pint 
your gun this way an’ mebby I ain’t too old or 
my rheumatiz ain’t too crinkly so that I can’t 
dodge yer bullet.” 

The stranger’s hand closed over the butt of his 
revolver and half drew the weapon from its 
holster. It drew no further, for the fellow sud¬ 
denly found himself facing Sam’s weapon, which 
had been drawn with a speed that must have been 
a revelation to him, because his face reflected 
amazement, as well as rage. 

“ If ye must shoot that gun off, take my advice 
an’ come ’round in the daytime when ye can see 
better, an’ we’ll fit it out man to man. But git! 
This ain’t no company fer a feller like you who 
can’t talk without a gun in his hand. Be ye 
goin’? ” 

“ Yes, but I’ll come back and you’ll be the one 
to git,” the fellow flung at him, turning abruptly 
on his heel. 

“Hoi’ on a minute thar! ” commanded the 
guide. “ Don’t try to start nothin’ at all heah. 
These friends of mine an’ these fine young women 
has seen yer kind before an’ they’d as lief shoot 
as not. Go back to Hornby, if he sent ye, an’ 
tell him to come out hisself if he is so tarnation 


44 


GRACE HARLOWE 


’fraid we’ll spile this grass. Jest a word more. 
We’ll watch ye an’ if ye try any tricks we’ll shoot. 
That’s all I’ve got to say to ye.” 

“ You’ll hear from me! ” shouted the departing 
caller as he flung himself into his saddle. 

“ I hear ye now, but yer voice sounds like as if 
ye was afraid of somethin’,” drawled Sam. 

The fellow rode away without another word. 

“ Follow him, Sam! ” urged Grace. “ We don’t 
know but they may rush us, just as the raiders 
did last night,” warned Grace. 

“ Leave it to Jim. He’s out thar an’ Jim kin 
trail a canary bird without the bird ever knowin’ 
it. Jim’ll give us the word if them fellers try any 
of their fancy tricks.” 

“ Oh, Samuel, why didn’t you shoot while you 
had an excuse for doing so? ” begged Emma. 

The Overlanders laughed. They knew Emma 
and they did not take her suggestion seriously. 

Half an hour later, during which time the 
Overland Riders had remained quietly alert, Jim 
came stalking in, stroking his v/hiskers. 

“ Have they gone? ” questioned the Over¬ 
landers in chorus. 

“ I reckon they knowed what was good for ’em, 
so they skedaddled,” replied Jim. 

“ Which way an’ whar did they go? ” demanded 
Sam. 

“West! How do I know whar they went?” 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


45 


“ If you was half a man you would know. You 
ain't no more 'count, an' not half so much use, 
as that tarnation mule that carries yer pack. But 
it ain't your fault, an' I reckon I oughter not set 
so much store by you. A feller can't be blamed 
much because he was borned with half a tea¬ 
spoonful of brains in his haid," raged Sam. 

“ I s’pose ye think you an’ that mule of yourn 
has all the brains in this heah outfit. Wal, I 
reckon you’re part right 'cause you an’ the mule 
has got some brains, but when the Lord made ye 
he got you two mixed. He thought you was the 
mule, so he give you the mule's brains an' the 
mule got yourn. I reckon — " 

“ Oh, shet up, will ye? " snarled Sam savagely, 
tugging viciously at his whiskers, while a gale of 
laughter swept over the Overland Riders. Jim 
and Sam did not speak to each other again that 
night, but glared as they met in their prowling 
about in ceaseless vigil of the camp. 

The next morning found the guides still deadly 
enemies, but after breakfast Emma cleared the 
clouds away by making a disparaging remark 
about Jim to Sam, whereupon Sam promptly came 
to the defense of his partner, and Jim heard it. 

A late start was made, the guides having in¬ 
formed their charges that they were only a few 
hours' ride from Old Joe Bindloss's “ Circle 0 " 
ranch. An hour after the start they again dis- 


46 


GRACE HARLOWE 


covered what they believed to be their mysterious 
horseman, but he disappeared shortly after 
luncheon and was seen no more, and the Overland 
Riders, making a sharp turn to the right, now 
headed towards the purple haze behind which lay 
the foothills and the mountains of the Coso range, 
where adventure awaited them. 


CHAPTER IV 

AT THE “ CIRCLE O ” RANCH 

AMP was pitched in the foothills about 



four o’clock that afternoon. Grazing 


lands stretched away parallel with the 
mountain range as far as the eye could see, and 
then were swallowed up in that everlasting purple 


haze. 


Father along the valley in the opposite direc¬ 
tion they could make out the buildings of the 
Rindloss ranch, to which Sam said they would ride 
in the morning, as Hippy Wingate wished to 
introduce himself to the owner. 

Cattle were grazing all along the foothills, 
hundreds of them, and those close at hand were 
observed to have the brand of the “ Circle 0 ” 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


47j 


ranch. They were part of the great herd be¬ 
longing to Old Joe Bindloss, a rich rancher, a 
hard man, according to Sam, but respected as a 
just one. 

Cowboys riding in to the ranch-house for supper 
gazed curiously at the outfit that was making 
camp, for it was seldom that anything of the 
sort was seen in the Coso Valley. Arriving at 
their headquarters the cowboys reported what 
they had seen. Shortly after supper the Over¬ 
land Riders were again disturbed, and half a dozen 
cowboys rode up in a cloud of dust, sweeping off 
their hats as they pulled down their mustangs 
at the very edge of the camp. Their attitude was 
stern, but not unfriendly, and the Overlanders 
surmised that they were from the “ Circle 0 ” 
ranch, which they soon learned was the fact. 

“ The Old Man wants to know who you be and 
what you are doin’ heah,” announced the spokes¬ 
man. “ He ’lows thet he don’t like no strangers 
foolin’ ’round whar the stock is, and he says it’ll 
please him if you move on.” 

“ Say! This is a hospitable country, isn’t it? ” 
cried Stacy Brown. “ Since I have been here, 
about all I have heard is, 4 Get out or get shot 
up! ’ Funny thing about it, though, is that we 
haven’t ‘ got ’ and we haven’t been ‘ shot up.’ ” 

“ Be quiet, Stacy! ” admonished Grace. 

“ Please go back and tell Mr. Bindloss that it 


48 


GRACE HARLOWE 


is Lieutenant Hippy Wingate, and his friends 
from the east. Lieutenant Wingate is a friend 
of Captain Gordon who was out here some time 
ago on a hunting trip. Say to Mr. Bindloss that 
if he objects to our camping here, we will go on 
up into the range and make camp there,” an¬ 
swered Hippy. 

“ Wal, the Old Man reckoned thet if ye didn’t 
go we was to fetch ye back whether ye wanted to 
come or not, but seein’ as thar’s ladies heah mebby 
we won’t have to take only the men,” answered 
the spokesman doubtfully. 

“Listen, Buddy! You go back and tell the 
Old Man to come and fetch us himself if he wants 
to see us. Tell him Lieutenant Wingate said so,” 
directed Hippy laughingly. 

The cowboys hesitated, surveyed the Overland 
outfit keenly, then, whirling their ponies, dashed 
away towards the “ Circle 0 ” ranch. 

“ Another one invites us to get out,” murmured 
Emma. “ How exciting! ” 

An hour later a bellowing “ halloo ” informed 
the Overland Riders that they were about to re¬ 
ceive another caller, and they surmised who it 
was. The hail was answered in kind, then a 
horseman trotted in and hopped off. He was a 
big, powerful-looking man, his face hard, probably 
from exposure, but the cold gray eyes now held 
a sparkle that was reassuring. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


49 


“ Ihn Joe Bindloss. Where’s the duffer who 
dared me to come after him? ” 

“ I’m the duffer/’ answered Hippy, stepping 
forward. 

“ Shake! ” rumbled Old Joe Bindloss. “ Any 
friend of Cap’n Gordon is a friend of mine. 
We’ve had to be kinder careful out here lately 
because there’s been some rustling done and the 
word has been passed that there’s a big gang — a 
regular gang of thieves, that’s working this 
section under all sorts of disguises.” 

“ Meet our gang, Mr. Bindloss; every one a 
rustler, but not the kind you are looking for,” 
said Hippy laughingly. He then introduced the 
rancher to the members of the Overland party, 
and lastly to the guides. Bindloss peered at Sam. 

“ Wal, strike me dead if it ain’t Sam Conifer! ” 
shouted the rancher, extending a mighty paw to 
Sam and another to Jim. “ Do you folks savvy 
this feller you’ve got here? You better savvy 
him if you know what’s good for you. Sam, if 
you want to do the < Circle 0 ’ a great big favor 
you just get wise to the feller that’s stealing stock, 
but give him a chance to draw so you can plug 
him proper. Come on up to the ranch-house.” 

Hippy said they had intended to do so in the 
morning, and then asked the rancher if he knew 
a man named Hornby. Bindloss’s face darkened 
and a heavy scowl wrinkled his forehead. 

4 - Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


50 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ I reckon I do. He and I don’t hook up nohow, 
but he’s got a daughter that I reckon I wish was 
mine. Judy is a peach and you ought to know 
her. Why do you ask me about Mai Hornby? ” 

Tom Gray explained that they had been 
ordered to leave the grazing grounds on the other 
side of the valley, and that the demand had been 
made in Hornby’s name. He also told Bindloss 
about the raid of the night before. 

“ A-huh! Hornby ain’t got no call to tell you 
to get out. A Mexican feller, you say? Probably 
one of the half-breeds that you’ll find all over the 
ranges, and a bad lot they are, too. I don’t 
reckon Hornby had to do with that.” 

“ Who do you think the raiders were? ” ques¬ 
tioned Grace. 

“ How do I know? I reckon, though, that 
mebby they were sent after you. Somebody don’t 
want you folks hangin’ ’round these diggin’s, but 
I reckon that Sam Conifer can take care of them. 
Eh, Sam? ” 

“ I reckon, but honest, Joe, my rheumatiz 
crinkles my fingers so that I can’t throw a gun 
any more, let alone pulling the trigger,” com¬ 
plained Sam. 

Bindloss laughed uproariously. 

“ The feller who reckons on gettin’ you be¬ 
cause of your rheumatiz is a dead man before he 
leaves home that day. Say, folks, the boys are 


AT, CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


51 


having a little shindy in the ranch-house this 
evenin’, and they’d be mighty pleased to have 
you all come over. The boys are a rough gang, 
but they will treat you fine, you ladies.” 

“ What kind of a shindy? ” asked Nora. 

“ A dance. They have a fiddle and a fellow 
who scrapes it, and they may walk on your toes, 
but they’ll feel worse about it than you do.” 

“ Oh, goodie! ” A dance! Of course we will go. 
Come on, folks. Oh, Mr. Bindloss, do you ever 
dream? ” asked Emma soberly. 

“ Help! ” murmured J. Elfreda. 

“ Why, yes. I reckon I do, like everybody else 
does when they get outside of too much chuck,” 
laughed the rancher. 

“ Do you ever make a psycho-analysis of your 
dreams, Mr. Bindloss? ” questioned Emma, laying 
a hand on the rancher’s arm and gazing up into 
his eyes. 

“Eh? Eh? A what?” he stammered. 

“ You should learn to read your dreams. Freud 
says that all dreams mean something — ungrati¬ 
fied desires in life — imponderable somethings 
that may mean great happiness, great sorrows, 
disaster — any number of fine or frightful things. 
If you will tell me about your dreams I will search 
out the imponderable quality in them and—” 

“Ride out, Miss Dean! Quick! Use your 
spurs because—” 


52 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ Don’t be alarmed/’ begged Elfreda. “ She 
never gets violent. We are in hopes that the 
mountain air may do her good.” The Overland 
Riders burst out laughing, which, after a look at 
Emma, Old Joe Bindloss joined in with a bellow¬ 
ing laugh. 

“ Try that on the boys. They’ll be plumb 
locoed,” rumbled Bindloss. “ Are you going with 
me? ” 

“ Of course we are,” answered Emma. 
“ Where’s my horse? ” 

“ I have ridden every foot that I am going to 
ride today,” protested Miss Briggs. “ Let’s 
walk.” 

The distance to the ranch being only about a 
mile the Overlanders decided that they would 
walk, and the rancher, assuring them that their 
stock and equipment would not be disturbed, 
Jim-Sam welcomed the opportunity to accompany 
them. Bindloss led his mustang and walked with 
them, and between Emma Dean’s quaint humor 
and Stacy Brown’s broader fun-making, Bindloss 
was kept in a roar most of the way home. 

He explained that he had no family, and that 
he seldom saw people of the outside world except 
when he went to town, which was only at rare 
intervals. He said that his men were preparing 
for a round-up and that within a few days a bunch 
of his cowboys would start with a drove of cattle 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


53 


for the north. He led his new friends to the 
dance-house, which was the cowboys’ bunk-house, 
and there he introduced them to that rollicking 
crowd. 

The fiddler stopped playing the moment the 
party appeared in the bunk-house. 

Sierra Joe, Squint Nevada, Sallie, and Two-gun 
Peters, were among the names that rolled readily 
from the tongue of the rancher as he introduced 
his men to the Overland Riders. 

“ And if they don’t talk you to death I reckon 
they’ll dance you to death,” warned the rancher, 
grinning at his men. “ Scrape, you lazy lout! ” 
he roared to the fiddler. 

The cowboys were shy, and stood about awk¬ 
wardly, avoiding the eyes of the girls who were 
smiling invitingly. 

“ See here, boys, aren’t you going to ask us to 
dance? ” cried Emma. “ No? Then I am going 
to ask you. Two-gun Peters, I like your name. 
It is a perfectly adorable name, and I want to 
dance with you. If you are half as handy with 
your feet as your name indicates that you are 
with your revolver, we’ll have a heavenly dance. 
Shake your feet, Peter! ” 

There was laughter from the Overlanders, a 
bellowing laugh from Joe Bindloss and sheepish 
grins from Two-gun Peters and his fellows, as 
Emma grabbed him and began waltzing about 


54 


GRACE HARLOWE 


with him. Then the other girls of the party 
selected their partners, and in a few moments the 
cowboys were dancing, milling about as if they 
were herding cattle at a round-up. Stamping 
feet, shrill cries from the fiddler and an occasional 
howl from Stacy Brown, who was doing an Indian 
dance by himself, made the old bunk-house ring, 
and raised the dust until the room was bathed in 
a yellow haze. 

Jim and Sam, grinning and pulling their 
whiskers, were watching the fun and trying to 
talk to Bindloss, but the old rancher was having 
altogether too good a time to say much to them. 

“ I wish Judy was over here. She’d see some¬ 
thin’ worth while,” he finally confided to Tom 
Gray. 

“ Two-gun, do you ever dream? ” Emma was 
saying as she swept past them with her partner. 

“Why — I — I reckon I do,” admitted Two- 
gun. “Why?” 

“ Did you ever hear of a man named Freud, the 
world’s most scientific interpreter of dreams? ” 
questioned the little freckle-faced girl gazing 
soulfully up into the eyes of the big cowboy. 

“ I shore did heah of a feller of thet name. He 
was a cattle rustler an’ I reckon he’s havin’ a 
long dream, ’cause they caught him and hanged 
him up on Rainy Mountain ’bout three year ago. 
He shore was some rustler, an’ thar’s some others 


AX CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


55 


of the same kind that aire goin’ the same way 
when we kotch up with ’em.” 

“ Oh, no! That isn’t the man I mean. The 
one I refer to is a great scientist who has dis¬ 
covered that there is an imponderable quality in 
each of us, and through his method of psycho¬ 
analysis he is able to throw the spot-light on that 
imponderable quality and —” 

“Bang! Bang!” 

Two quick shots fired from somewhere beyond 
the open door of the bunk-house startled every 
one in the room. One bullet passed through 
Sam Conifer’s whiskers, and the other grazed the 
dress of Emma Dean who was dancing past him 
at that instant. 

Sam’s weapon was out of its holster with a 
movement so speedy that no one saw him draw it. 
Two shots rang out from the guide’s weapon, 
one shattering the hanging lamp, the other fol¬ 
lowing close upon the first, but fired through the 
open door. The room was plunged into deep 
darkness, with the odor of burnt powder heavy on 
the air. 


56 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER V 

OVERLANDERS SUFFER A LOSS 

* c O H00T ’ Sam! Shoot > 1 tel1 you!,, 11 

was Emma Dean’s voice that broke the 
silence of the room. Sam’s answer was 
lost in the chorus of yells uttered by the enraged 
cowboys, who made a rush for the door, with 
Joe Bindloss charging after them and shouting 
orders. 

“Get the critter! Drill him! Don’t let him 
get away,” yelled the rancher. “You women 
stay here till we find out what’s doing. There 
may be some shooting, and there surely will be 
if I ketch sight of the coyote who did that.” 

Jim-Sam had strolled out behind the others, 
the least excited of the party. They reasoned 
that the person who fired the shot into the room, 
evidently with the intention of hitting Sam 
Conifer, would not be found outside waiting to 
be caught. It was a pot shot and it had missed, 
but the shooter, by this time, no doubt was well 
on his way to safety. 

Jim began snooping about, but the night was 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


57 


too dark to enable him to find what he was look¬ 
ing for, and the girls, not to be denied, stepped 
out. 

“Here! Take my pocket lamp,” said Grace, 
thrusting it into his hand. 

“ Thankee, Miss,” growled Jim, and began 
sweeping the rays from the lamp over the ground 
in front of the bunk-house door. “ Here’s whar 
the critter stood when he let go,” announced Jim. 
“ Anybody recognize them boot-prints? ” 

No one did, and Jim went on nosing out the 
trail, which he followed for several rods down the 
valley, though the footprints were mixed with the 
tracks of cowpunchers and ponies. Jim continued 
his tracking until he reached a point where the 
shooter had met and mounted a pony, on which 
he dashed away straight for the hills. Those 
hoof-prints were of keen interest to Jim-Sam. 
They were the prints of unshod hoofs, and the 
two men looked at each other with a meaning 
gaze. 

“ I reckon the feller was shootin’ with his left 
hand, an’ that’s why he missed,” observed Sam. 

“ I reckon,” agreed Jim. 

“ What have you got, Conifer? ” called Joe 
Bindloss, dashing up on his pony. 

The men explained what they had found, and 
the old rancher raged and stormed, declaring that 
he would get the fellow, that he would set his 


GRACE HARLOWE 


58 

cowpunchers on the trail at once to follow it until 
they did get the man. 

“ Ain’t no use,” objected Sam. “ Can't do 
nothin' till daylight, an' then it'll be too late. 
I'll know that hoof-print when I see it.” 

“ I reckon I know it now,” spoke up Jim. 

“ What's that? ” demanded Blindloss. 

“ You do? ” wondered Sam. 

“ Shore, I do. It's Mrs. Gray’s pony. He lost 
a shoe yesterday an' the others was loose, an' she 
was intendin' to have him shod all around, after 
I'd pulled off the rest of the shoes,” was the 
guide's startling announcement. 

“ Come back to the bunk-house. We've got 
to find out about this,” growled Bindloss. 

On their way back they met the Overlanders 
coming along. Unable to restrain their curiosity, 
the Overlanders had followed their guides down 
the valley. 

“ Mrs. Gray, would you know the hoof-prints 
of your pony if you were to see them? ” asked 
the rancher. 

“ I am quite certain that I would,” answered 
Grace. 

“ Come and have a look at what Jim's found,” 
he said, wheeling his pony and trotting back 
towards the place where the Overland animal 
hoof-print had been found by Jim. 

“ Yes,” announced Grace after a careful exami- 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 59 

"A 

nation of the tracks. “ Those are Ginger’s tracks, 
or else Ginger has a double; but what was my 
pony doing here? What does it mean, Sam? ” 

"I reckon it means that the feller who shot 
at me had your hoss. Hark! ” 

A scattering fire of revolver shots was heard 
from farther down the valley, and now Joe Bind- 
loss’s cowpunchers came riding from the ranch- 
house, they too having heard the shots. 

“ It’s down by our camp! ” cried Nora. 

“ Go to it, fellows! ” shouted the rancher. 
“You folks go back to the ranch-house, I’m 
going to follow the boys,” he announced, spurring 
his horse into a run. 

Instead of following his direction the Overland 
Riders started at a brisk walk for their camp. 

“ Aren’t we going back to finish our dance? ” 
wailed Emma. 

“ Not until we find out what is going on down 
yonder,” answered Tom Gray with a wave of the 
hand towards their camp. 

“ Oh, what a shame to spoil a perfectly lovely 
party? ” wailed Emma. “ Two-gun Pete surely 
could handle his feet even if they are big, and I 
was having such a nice talk with him about 
Freud, too.” 

“ Emma Dean, if you keep on I shall be in favor 
of having your sanity inquired into,” threatened 
J. Elfreda Briggs. 


60 


GRACE HARLOWE 


Stacy shook his head. 

“ You can’t inquire into what ain’t, can you? ” 
he demanded. 

“ No, and that is the reason you have never 
been the subject of an inquiry,” flung back Emma 
sharply. 

At this juncture, Jim and Sam began to 
wrangle, each accusing the other of being to blame 
for the mess their party had gotten into, but the 
Overlanders were too much concerned with their 
own troubles to laugh at the argument of the 
guides. 

A few moments later the Overland party came 
within sight of their camp. Someone, probably 
men of the “ Circle 0 ” ranch, had built up the 
campfire and could be seen moving about there. 

As a matter of prudence, before leaving camp 
that evening, the Riders had hidden their rifles 
and ammunition, as they were in the habit of 
doing. Their revolvers they wore, for experience 
had taught them that it was the wise thing to do 
in a wild country, or in sections where there were 
ruffians such as they had encountered in the 
Coso Valley. 

“ Is everything all right? ” called Hippy as they 
came up to the camp. 

“ No. Everything’s all wrong,” answered Bind- 
loss savagely. “ I’ll kill somebody for this.” 

“ What happened? ” begged Grace. 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


61 


“My night rangers discovered some fellows 
fooling about your camp, and knowhT you was 
at the ranch-house, because one of ’em had 
watched you to see what you were doing, he 
looked a little closer and saw the prowlers nosing 
into your property. That was Idaho Jones. 
Idaho fired three shots at the fellows, and that 
called our other rangers nearby, who rode in hot¬ 
foot, but the prowlers skipped before they got in, 
though not before Jones had taken a few pot 
shots at them. The thieves got away, but one of 
the fellows says Jones was certain that he hit one 
of them.” 

“ Yes. But what about our ponies? ” cried 
Grace. 

“ Not a hide nor hair of ’em left,” answered 
Bindloss. “ The critters took ’em all, and one had 
the nerve to ride yours, Mrs. Gray, almost over 
to the ranch-house. You better look around and 
see if they got anything else,” suggested Bindloss 
amid a tense silence. “ Jones and some of the 
others chased ’em into the hills and are after 
’em now.” 

“ The ponies stolen! ” howled Stacy Brown. 

“ It’s your fault, consarn ye!” raged Sam 
Conifer, addressing his companion. “ I told ye to 
stay here an’ watch things.” 

“ It ain’t! It’s your fault. If you’d had any 
brains in yer empty head you’d stayed an’ watched 


62 


GRACE HARLOWE 


this camp. You need somebody to watch you, an’ 
that's no lie! " yelled Jim at the top of his voice. 

The Overlanders burst out laughing, some of 
them a little hysterically. 


CHAPTER VI 


RUSTLERS ARE HARD PRESSED 


46 t tj A HE mules is still heah,” cried Jim. 

“ Of course they aire, an' I’ll bet 
•*» my mule scared them fellers off. 
Thar ain't a man livin' that can git away with 
that cayuse of mine," declared Sam. 

“ Leastwise when he has mine to frighten them 
off," added Jim. 

“ I think you are right, James. Your mule would 
frighten the beasts of the jungles," said Emma. 

“ Missie, you're wrong. Jim’s mule is the 
finest chunk o' mule flesh that you ever seen," de¬ 
clared Sam. 

“You said it, old Whiskers. That critter of 
yours can't hold a firebrand to him," agreed Jim. 

“ He can't, eh? Wal, I’ll show ye whether he 
can or not. Thar ain’t a mule on four feet that 
can come up to mine," averred Sam heatedly. 


63 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 

“ Will you kindly stop your wrangling and do 
something? ” begged Tom Gray. “ Hippy, are the 
rifles safe? ” 

“ Yes. They didn’t find them, thank goodness.” 

Grace and her companions, who had been 
making a hasty inventory of their belongings, an¬ 
nounced that not a thing was missing. 

“ I reckon that our boys got here too soon and 
chased the critters away,” boomed the rancher. 
“ What do you folks think you’re going to do 
now? ” 

“That is the question before the house,” ob¬ 
served Stacy. 

“Where would the horse thieves be likely to 
take the stock? ” asked Grace. 

“No one knows where their hang-out is, but 
I’ve heard that it’s up in the canyon country, 
where it is said there are acres of rich grass and 
plenty of hiding places, but nobody ever suc¬ 
ceeded in tracking ’em very far. They are too 
smart. The boys won’t find ’em, but we’ll wait 
till they get back.” 

“Where is the canyon country to which you 
refer, Mr. Bindloss? ” asked Miss Briggs. 

“On the other side of the valley in the 
mountains.” 

“ Then is it not reasonable to suppose that they 
will attempt to cross the valley to-night so as to 
be in their lair by daylight? ” persisted Elfreda. 


64 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ Sure they will,” agreed Bindloss. 

“ Can you spare enough men to ride back and 
forth for a few miles on this side? It is possible 
that they might intercept the thieves and possibly 
recover at least one of our animals,” suggested 
Miss Briggs. 

“ You’re right. Miss, you have a head on your 
shoulders. Pete, you take all the boys that are 
left here and hit it along the valley, stringing out 
’bout half a mile apart and watch like all pos¬ 
sessed,” directed Bindloss. 

“ We want to be in on that, Mr. Bindloss. How 
about ponies for Captain Gray and myself? ” 
asked Hippy eagerly. 

“ You can have the one I’m riding, and Nevada 
will ride back to the ranch and get one for Captain 
Gray. Hustle, Nevada! The rest of you fellows 
go on, and don’t be afraid to string out. Sam, I 
reckon you and Jim better stick around. No 
telling what might be pulled off by that gang. 
I’ve been thinking that mebby this is a sort of 
come-back for Sam’s shooting that fellow in the 
wrist the other night. I’ll bet it’s the same gang, 
but there’s something more to it. I don’t know 
what, but I reckon on you folks finding out one 
of these days.” 

“ You may be certain that we will,” spoke up 
Emma. “ And please, Mr. Bindloss, try to re¬ 
member your dreams, for they may have a power- 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 65 

ful bearing on this affair. Each of you do the 
same and tell them to me in the morning.” 

“ It ain’t dreams, it’s lead that’s goin’ to settle 
this heah matter,” observed Sam. 

Nevada soon returned with a mustang for Tom 
Gray. The animal was not particularly good- 
natured, and gave Tom no little trouble at first, 
but fortunately he was not unhorsed, and the 
party was soon galloping away, each man carrying 
a rifle and fifty rounds of ammunition. 

A few miles down the valley they were halted 
by Pete and told to spread out between him and 
the camp and keep a sharp lookout. Three rifle 
shots were to be fired as a signal that the thieves 
had been discovered. The men rode slowly back 
and forth, hailing as they met at the end of 
their beats, and thus the night wore on with 
nothing more disturbing than the howls of coyotes 
up in the mountains. 

“ Is it us that those fellows are howling 
at? ” questioned Tom Gray as he met Two-gun 
Pete. 

“ I don’t reckon so. The breeze ain’t blowin’ 
right fer them to scent us.” 

“ Then it is probable that they are howling at 
someone up in the hills, isn’t it? ” 

“ Cap’n, I reckon as you aire right ’bout thet. 
Somethin’ aire stirrin’. I feels it in my bones. 
Can you folks shoot? ” 

6 - Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


66 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ Pretty well when we can see, but not in such 
darkness as this. Can you? ” 

“ Shore I kin shoot in the dark, but thet ain’t 
sayin’ I can hit what I’m shootin at,” chuckled 
Pete. 

While the Overland men and cowboys were 
watching the foothills for the horse thieves, the 
girls of their party were busy making their camp 
comfortable and chatting with Joe Bindloss, who 
found himself much attracted to them. Then 
again, he felt it wise to remain with them until 
the men returned. 

Jim-Sam were striding back and forth with 
“ears pricked up, jest huntin’ fer trouble,” as 
they listened to sounds of the night rather than 
to what those about them were saying. Both men 
finally sat down in the shadows on the mountain 
side of the camp, but not a word did either man 
have to say. 

“ May I sit down with you boys? ” asked 
Emma, skipping over to them. “You are ex¬ 
pecting something, I know, and I would just love 
to be in on it.” 

“ Please, Missie, git back,” urged Sam. 
“ Mebby nothin’ll happen. Most likely nothin’ 
will, but we got to listen and watch, fer — Skip! ” 
he added in a whisper. 

Jim felt his companion stiffen ever so little, 
and Emma, observing the expression on his face, 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


67 


without another word, turned and ran back to 
her companions. Sam had heard something, and 
Jim’s nod indicated that he too heard it, but 
neither man moved from his position, though 
Sam Conifer’s hand might have been seen caress¬ 
ing the big revolver butt that protruded from his 
holster. 

Over yonder by the campfire there were chatter 
and joking and laughter, the old rancher being 
entertained as he had not been in many years, 
in fact not since he was a youngster in Illinois 
where he had been born and reared. Jim-Sam 
now heard nothing of the merriment, every 
faculty being bent on the slight rustling that both 
could hear in the bushes to the rear of them. It 
was not the breeze that was stirring the foliage, 
for there was no breeze, and they knew that it 
was either man or animal creeping up on them, 
though neither man could be certain that their 
own presence, there in the shadows, had been 
discovered. 

Sam suddenly decided that the time for action 
was at hand. With one of those marvellously 
flashing movements that seemed so little a part 
of him, the old man jerked his weapon from its 
holster and fired back over his shoulder into the 
bushes without even looking around. 

Nora uttered a scream, and the other girls 
sprang to their feet, while Joe Bindloss, uttering 


68 


GRACE HARLOWE 


a roar, charged towards the guides, both of whom, 
now having risen, were shooting into the bushes. 
Bindloss suddenly realized that the firing was not 
one-sided, for he heard bullets zing past his ears. 
The Overland girls also at once discovered that 
they were under fire — revolver fire — and spring¬ 
ing away from the campfire, they threw them¬ 
selves prone on the ground. 

The rancher at this juncture took a hand in 
the shooting. The Overland girls, despite their 
fright, gazed at him in admiration. Bindloss, 
standing in the light of the campfire, was working 
his revolver, firing at the flashes he saw coming 
from the bushes. He made a splendid mark, but 
nothing touched him, though twice Jim-Sam 
heard grunts in the bushes, that told that some¬ 
one there had been hit. 

“I can’t stand this!” cried Emma. “Fm 
going to get my rifle.” 

“ Lie still! ” commanded Grace. “ Let the men 
do the fighting. If they need us we shall know it, 
and that will be time enough.” 

Emma sank back, complaining to herself. 
Stacy was nowhere in sight, but they knew that 
he was in hiding, for he had disappeared at the 
first shot fired by Sam Conifer. 

The firing from the bushes ceased suddenly, 
the defense of the camp probably having grown 
too warm, as the Overlanders reasoned out the 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


69 


situation. Now the three men fairly riddled the 
bushes with their shooting, sweeping the entire 
spread of foliage for several yards to the right 
and left of them. 

A sharp cry from one of the girls drew the 
attention of Jim-Sam and Joe Bindloss to them. 

“ Horses! ” shouted Grace. 

The three men instantly divined her meaning. 
The attackers had taken to their mounts, and, 
with quick perception of what their defenders’ 
next action would be, the Overland girls snatched 
up rifles and thrust them into the hands of the 
men as the latter ran for the open. 

The heavy report of a rifle before the three men 
were clear of the camp, was the first intimation 
that Stacy Brown had come out of hiding. He 
was shooting at the retreating horsemen, now 
that it was reasonably safe for him to do so. A 
few seconds later Jim-Sam and Joe Bindloss were 
firing at the sound of retreating hoof-beats, and 
they kept on firing until the hoof-beats finally 
died away. 

“Hark! ” exclaimed Tom Gray as the sound 
of rifle fire from the Overland camp reached them. 

“ I heah it,” answered Two-gun Pete. “ Rifles! 
They aire at it fer keeps.” 

“Then let’s go. Man, they need us! ” urged 
Tom, his tone reflecting his excitement. 


70 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“Wait! Hold yer hosses fer a bit.” 

They heard the few answering scattering shots 
fired by the fleeing attackers; then the firing died 
out. Pete, with head cocked to one side, inter¬ 
preted the sounds and the silence aright. 

“ Yer folks have got ’em on the run. Reckon 
we’ll be goin’. Jest jog along so thet we don’t 
run into somethin’ headlong,” he advised. 

Tom Gray, worried and full of eagerness to get 
into action, had to put a firm check on himself 
to keep from racing on in the lead of his com¬ 
panion. Ahead of them somewhere they knew 
that Hippy Wingate was on the lookout for the 
horse thieves, and so long as nothing was heard 
from him there appeared to be no need for haste, 
but while Tom’s every faculty was centered on 
what lay ahead of them, Two-gun Pete, like the 
mustang he was riding, gave as much attention to 
the rear as he did to what was ahead. 

A flash suddenly leaped up in the darkness 
ahead, followed by a sharp report. Then guns 
banged with a speed that reminded Tom Gray of 
nights on the firing line in France. 

“ He’s met ’em! Ride! ” yelled Two-gun Pete, 
putting spurs to his horse. 

Tom needed no urging, nor did his pony. The 
little animal uttered a whistling snort and plunged 
ahead, its nose at the flank of Pete’s flying 
mustang. 



71 









72 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ He's turned 'em! ” flung back Pete. “ They 
aire headin' 'cross the valley. That feller shore 
has got nerve." 

No more was said, but both men swerved their 
mounts farther out into the valley to head off 
the fleeing horsemen, and drew up on them slowly. 
Pete saw that Hippy Wingate was fighting with 
all the odds against him, but that he was holding 
his own. Had there been light, the Overlander 
would have been in a much more serious situation. 

As the two men neared the scene of the fighting, 
Tom Gray uttered a long-drawn yell, which Hippy 
iieard, recognized, and answered. The attackers 
'heard too, and put on a fresh burst of speed. 
Observing this, Pete jerked his rifle from its 
holster and emptied his magazine at them. Up 
to this time, however, Tom Gray had not fired. 

“No use. We aire losin' ground," shouted 
Pete. “ Ride till we git close enough to use the 
barkers. I never was no good at long-range 
shootin'." 

A few moments later the horses of the ruffians 
became faintly discernible, and Pete rode straight 
at them. The ruffians were shooting as they 
raced, and Lieutenant Hippy Wingate was bang¬ 
ing away at them and yelling like an Indian on 
the warpath. About this time Tom and Pete 
opened up with their revolvers. A pony went 
down and its rider was seen to plunge over its 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


73 


head. Pete jerked his mustang aside just in 
time to avoid running into the fallen man and 
horse. There were fully half a dozen of the sup¬ 
posed horse thieves, some of whom were leading 
other animals behind them, and it was these to 
whom Pete devoted his attention, believing that 
the led horses were stolen animals. 

The three pursuers were spread out in fan- 
shape now, Hippy Wingate on the extreme right, 
running in on the fleeing men head-on, then 
ducking and swinging out, after emptying his 
weapon at them. 

“ Hit! ” he muttered as a sudden burning sen¬ 
sation was felt in the calf of his left leg. “ Take 
that! ” he yelled. Taking a desperate chance he 
rode right in among the scattered horsemen, 
hoping to cut them off and give his own com¬ 
panions an opportunity to do more effective work. 

Hippy emptied two revolvers at the raiders, 
then all at once something suddenly seemed to 
snap in his head, and Hippy Wingate reeled in his 
saddle. Sudden and deeper darkness enveloped 
him, and Hippy fell forward on the neck of his 
mustang, both feet slipping from the stirrups. 
For a moment he clung there. He did not hear 
the scream of his pony as a bullet hit the plucky 
little animal, nor did he feel the impact when 
both he and the pony went down in the dust and 
lay motionless where they had fallen. 


74 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER VII 

A FIGHT TO A FINISH 

4 6 r’l'^HEY are heading for the mountains!’ r 

shouted Tom as he and Two-gun 
* Pete drew together. 

“Yes, but we’ll chase ’em into the foothills 
afore we quit,” raged Pete. “ Ain’t hit, be ye? ” 

“ No.” 

“Thet’s good.” 

The two riders again settled down to their work, 
pushing their ponies to utmost speed. Then they 
observed that the ruffians were beginning to 
spread out, to scatter, a move that Two-gun Pete 
understood perfectly. They were planning to 
take to the mountains as individuals rather than 
as a body. This would make pursuit more diffi¬ 
cult, in fact, practically impossible. 

Both Tom and Pete had had many close calls 
from bullets, but neither gave much heed to them. 
They were too busy to consider something that 
had passed, and again, they had advantage in 
that they were pursuing while their adversaries 
were fleeing before them. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


75 


“Now give 'em the rifles! ” yelled Pete as the 
pursued riders neared the foothills. “ Keep 
shootin'! ” 

The pair unlimbered their rifles, and soon 
afterwards other cowpunchers who had joined 
them did the same. The heavy firing was plainly 
audible to the girls of the Overland party, who, 
fearing for their companions, were very nervous, 
and Joe Bindloss paced back and forth at the 
camp listening, his face stern, both hands 
tightly clenched. 

“ I hope they kill some of them devils! I 
hope they do! ” he growled. 

In the meantime Tom Gray and the cow- 
punchers were at it hammer and tongs, nor did 
they cease firing until the last of the supposed 
horse thieves were out of sight in the deep 
shadows in the foothills. 

“ I reckon thet's about all,” observed Two- 
gun Pete dryly. “ What I wants to know is whar 
thet fightin' friend of yours is.” 

“ Can't we give Lieutenant Wingate a gun 
signal to come in? ” asked Tom, a note of anxiety 
in his tone. 

“ No. Thet will be givin' notice to them 
critters thet we've finished this heah little game, 
an' I don’t want them to have thet satisfaction. 
We’ll mosey about a little an' see if we kin find 
Mr. Wingate.” 


76 


GRACE HARLOWE 


Pete, followed by Tom, worked up and down 
the valley parallel with the mountain ranges for 
some little time without discovering Hippy; then 
all of a sudden, Pete uttered a whoo — pe-e-e! 
It was answered instantly, and two men rode 
cautiously out of the darkness. They proved to 
be Sierra Joe and Nevada, who said the others 
were somewhere to the north. A distant hail told 
the men that the others also had heard Pete’s 
call and were heading in his direction. Tom, 
worried as he was about Hippy, could not but 
admire the efficient manner in which these men 
of the open worked. It was a revelation to him. 
Shortly after that the rest of the party rode in. 

“ Has any of you cayuses seen anythin’ of the 
Old Man’s friend? ” questioned Pete. 

“ Is he the feller that was workin’ to the 
south? ” asked Nevada. 

“ Yes,” spoke up Tom. 

“ Wal, he quit firin’ some little piece back thar. 
I reckon mebby he got winged,” announced 
Nevada. 

“ Line up, fellers! Take yer ranges by the hills 
on the other side of the valley and look sharp. 
I reckon mebby thar’s some other things to find 
in this heah valley,” added Pete significantly. 

The search for Hippy began without a mo¬ 
ment’s delay, fast and efficient, but without a 
trace of excitement. The attitude of his com- 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


77 


panions steadied Tom and assisted him to keep 
his head clear. 

Two dead ponies were found first by Sierra, 
and near them lay two men, both dead. Sierra 
hailed his companions and when they arrived he 
struck a match to look at the victims. 

“ Chuck the light! ” commanded Pete sternly. 

The words were barely past his lips when a 
bullet 'pinged through the air over their heads. 

“ Ain’t you got no sense, Sierra? ” demanded 
Pete disgustedly. “ Don’t ye do thet agin. 
Them fellers aire waitin’ fer us to give them a 
show, an’ I reckon they’ll hang out in the foot¬ 
hills fer some time yit. Anybody know these 
critters? ” 

Each cowboy took a look at the victims, but 
none recognized them. The brand on the dead 
mustangs also was unknown to them. 

“ Can’t do nothin’ till daylight. Hit the trail 
agin,” ordered Pete, whereupon the search for 
Hippy Wingate was resumed. It was Tom Gray 
who found him, nearly a mile from their last 
stand. 

“ Help here! ” shouted Tom. 

Pete heard and understood. With the others, 
he spurred to the scene, finding Tom Gray on the 
ground bending over the stretched-out form of 
the fallen Overlander. 

“ Is he daid? ” questioned Sierra anxiously. 


is 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ No. He is alive, but he must be badly hurt. 
He has been here for some time and is still un¬ 
conscious. That looks bad. Boys, we must get 
him to camp as quickly as possible. How shall 
we do it? ” 

“ I’ll take him on my Tang,” answered Pete. 
“ Wait till I git up; then boost him up to me and 
ITL do the rest. Nevada, you ride back a piece 
to make sure thet we ain’t followed, an’ give us a 
good start. You kin come on in then.” 

Hippy’s limp form was lifted into Two-gun 
Pete’s arms, and giving the pony the reins, Pete 
touched the animal with a light spur and the 
journey back to camp was begun. It was not 
a gentle ride for the wounded Overlander. In 
fact it was a killing ride, and when they came 
in sight of the campfire, the pony was white with 
lather. 

It was at this juncture that Hippy began to 
mutter and struggle. 

“ Thet’s all right, pard. Yer on yer way back 
to camp, and Pete’s the boy thet’s takin’ ye; so 
jest rest easy-like. Cap, ride in an’ tell ’em we 
aire cornin’.” 

Tom spurred ahead, and by the time Pete and 
his burden rode in, the Overlanders were ready 
to receive them. All were pale, though Nora, 
who might have been expected to go to pieces, was 
calm, in fact fully as much so as Elfreda and 


AT. CIRCLE O RANCH 


79 


\ 

Grace who, as hospital workers in the great war, 
were used to scenes of this sort. 

Hippy’s face, as he was lifted from Two-gun 
Pete’s arms, was seen to be covered with blood. 

“ Place him by the fire where we can see,” 
directed Grace. “ Stacy, fetch water, and be 
quick about it! ” 

“ I’ll get my kit and be back in a moment,” 
announced Elfreda. 

Blankets were spread out by the campfire, and 
on them the wounded Hippy was laid, and by the 
time Elfreda returned, Grace had sponged away 
the blood from his face and head. 

“ A bullet has laid his scalp open on the right 
side,” she announced. “ If there are no other 
wounds he will pull through all right. Do you 
hear me, Hippy? ” 

“Ye— es.” 

“ Is this the only wound you have? ” 

“ No. In leg,” answered the patient weakly. 

Nora pulled up the trousers from both limbs 
and discovered that the left one was bloody from 
half way below the knee down, and it was Nora’s 
hands that washed the wound clean and prepared 
it for the dressing. 

Elfreda Briggs, by this time, had returned with 
her first-aid kit, and was critically examining the 
scalp wound, Grace Harlowe standing over her 
with face full of interest and sympathy. 


80 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“This must be sewed up as soon as we have 
treated it,” announced Miss Briggs, nodding up 
at her companion. “ Hippy, I shall have to take 
several stitches in your scalp, and I am going to 
hurt you. You won’t mind, will you, after all 
the fun you have been having to-night? ” 

“ Get it over with,” muttered Hippy. 

“Grace, you might dress the leg while I am 
doing this embroidery work for Hippy. Did the 
bullet go all the way through the leg? ” 

“Ye — es,” replied Nora. “I — I think so.” 

“ It did, through the fleshy part. It is not a 
bad wound,” volunteered Grace. 

Miss Briggs began her w T ork at once, and per¬ 
formed it quickly and skillfully. Hippy, despite 
himself, flinched under each needle thrust. A 
group of wondering, open-mouthed cowpunchers 
watched the Overland girl perform her operation, 
and by the time she had finished stitching the 
scalp together, Grace had completed her task on 
the leg wound. 

“Oh! He’s dead! ” cried Nora, after a quick 
look into Hippy’s now ghastly pale face. 

“Don’t get excited! He has fainted, that’s 
all,” comforted Miss Briggs, who thereupon pro¬ 
ceeded to revive her patient. The pain had 
been a little more than Hippy, in his weak¬ 
ened condition, could bear, and under it he had 
swooned. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


81 


Old Joe Bindloss clutched off his sombrero and 
mopped the perspiration from his forehead. 

“ Wal! I’ve seen some things in my time, but 
I’ll be shot for a hoss thief if I ever come up with 
the like of this,” rumbled the rancher. 

Hippy opened his eyes and a faint grin appeared 
on his face, whereat, the cowpunchers, as one man, 
heaved a deep breath of relief. They stood about 
awkwardly, sombreros tucked under their arms, 
not knowing what they ought to do, but quite 
positive to a man that they wished there were 
more patients to be treated so that they might 
stay where they were and watch these capable 
young women work for the rest of the night. 


6 - Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE “ DUDE ” MAKES GOOD 


-GUN PETE sidled over to Hippy. 



Fer a dude, yer some scrapper. I’ll 


JL ^ say so. Shake, Pard,” he said, extend¬ 
ing a ham-like paw. 

“Yep! Reg’lar bear-cat,” agreed Sierra, and 
all the cowboys nodded solemnly. 

“Thanks! Did we get any of them?” ques¬ 
tioned Hippy, not much above a whisper, for 
every word sent shooting pains through his head. 

“ Two thet we knows of, and mebby some more. 
The Old Man’s hoss thet you was ridin’ got his’n, 
too.” 

“ Oh, that is too bad. I’m sorry.” 

“ Thet ain’t nothin’,” interjected Idaho. 
“ What’s a hoss when it comes to a scrap with a 
bunch of rustlers? They’re mad now, and we’ll 
mebby git another chance at ’em some day soon. 
Reckon you won’t care ’bout mixin’ in agin? ” 

“ I reckon you have another guess coming, 
Idaho,” answered Hippy, grinning. 

Bindloss here interrupted by declaring that the 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


83 


wounded Overlander must be taken to the ranch- 
house and put to bed. He said he would have a 
buckboard brought down and fetch him. Miss 
Briggs shook her head. 

“ I do not think best to have him moved to¬ 
night. If he feels better in the morning, you may 
do that,” she said.” 

“All right. You’re the doctor. I’ll have the 
boys fix you up comfortable and stand guard for 
the rest of the night so you won’t be bothered by 
those rustlers.” 

“ Bindloss, I am sorry about the pony that got 
shot under me. Of course I shall pay you for 
him,” offered Hippy. 

“ Pay nothing! ” roared the rancher. “ I owe 
you money for the walloping you folks give those 
coyotes. Here, you rough-necks! Fix these folks 
up with whatever they want, then spread out and 
ride ’round for the rest of the night, and if they 
get into any more trouble to-night, I’ll fire the 
bunch of you and get riders who can see and 
shoot.” 

“ I reckon we kin take care of our folks and do 1 
whatever is necessary,” interjected Sam. 

Bindloss agreed, but said his men would be 
on guard just the same. Shortly after that the 
cowboys mounted and rode out into the valley 
for their night’s vigil. 

A tent was erected over Hippy, and Nora 


84 


GRACE HARLOWE 


insisted on sitting up to look after him, but before 
turning in the Overlanders went into Hippy’s 
tent with a cheerful word for their wounded 
companion. 

“ Hippy, tell me, did you dream anything when 
you were asleep out there after being shot? ” 
whispered Emma. 

“ Yes. I dreamed that an imponderable quan¬ 
tity appeared suddenly out of the nowhere and 
gave me an awful wallop,” retorted Hippy. 

“ I think you are real mean,” pouted Emma. 
“ Good-night! Don’t forget to remember what 
you dream about to-night, for it may be of great 
importance to us.” 

“ Huh! ” muttered Hippy. 

Soon after that the camp became quiet and 
every Overlander, except Nora, was sound asleep. 
Jim-Sam, however, were just outside holding a 
heated argument over the occurrences of the 
evening. Jim blamed Sam for shooting into the 
bushes and thus starting the row that ended in 
the wounding of one of their party. 

“ Why, you miserable galoot, you ain’t got the 
sense of a flea! ” retorted Sam. “If it hadn’t 
been fer me, you’d been quarrelin’ with the angels 
right this minute. Some folks ain’t got brains 
enough to know nothin’.” 

“ You said it,” agreed Jim. “ I’ve knowed that 
ever since I’ye been with ye.” 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


85 


The argument was continued at intervals all 
the rest of the night, and until at break of day 
they saw the cowpunchers ride off down the valley 
at a brisk gallop. Jim then built up the fire and 
began preparing for breakfast. The odors of the 
cooking soon awakened the Overlanders, and one 
by one they turned out rubbing the sleep out of 
their eyes. 

Emma Dean’s face, however, was glowing and 
her eyes were full of sparkle. 

“ Oh, girls,” she cried. “ I had the most won¬ 
derful dream last night. What do you think? 
It was a most adorable dream. I dreamed that 
I was engaged to the nicest man and — ” 

“What! Again?” shouted the Overlanders. 

“Yes. Why not? He was a cowboy, and I 
dreamed that he had just shot a man who made 
eyes at me. Wasn’t that a perfectly adorable 
thing for him to do? ” 

“ Which man to do what? ” questioned Stacy. 

“For my fiance to shoot the other fellow, of 
course. I just loved him for that.” 

“Emma, we will have you in a strait-jacket 
yet,” retorted Grace laughingly. “How many 
does this one make? ” 

“ Two real ones and a spiritual one. You know 
the one last night wasn’t a real fiance—” 

“ Just an imponderable quantity or quality,” 
suggested Stacy Brown, which brought a laugh 


86 


GRACE HARLOWE 


from the Overlanders, and made Hippy grin de¬ 
spite the fact that it hurt him to twist his 
swollen face. 

Hippy, while feeling much improved, was sore 
and weak, and when Joe Bindloss rode up, as the 
Overlanders were eating breakfast, he said he 
had arranged to have them move their camp up 
near the ranch-house, as it would be some time 
before Lieutenant Wingate would again be able 
to ride. 

“ He can stay at my house and Ill take all 
the care of him that he needs. You folks can 
make trips out and stay as long as you want to. 
What about it? ” 

The Overlanders agreed, and the rancher said 
the buckboard would be down later in the morning 
to fetch the wounded man. Bindloss sat down 
and ate breakfast with his new friends, and they 
had just finished the meal when Sam Conifer 
called to them that the cowboys were coming 
back, one of them leading an extra mustang. 

Glasses were soon leveled at the approaching 
dust cloud which Sam had identified as belonging 
to the Circle 0 bunch. As the riders rode out of 
the cloud Grace uttered a cry of delight. 

“ It is Ginger! They have found Ginger! 
Oh, I’m so glad.” 

“Only Ginger! Fiddlesticks! ” growled Stacy 
in disgust. “ Somebody will have to buy me a 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


87 


new pony. I’m not going to walk. You take my 
word for that.” 

“Ginger! ” cried Grace as the punchers rode 
in, dust-covered, smiling, happy in being able to 
do something for one of the Overland girls. 

The little pony trotted to her, showing every 
evidence of being glad to be back with his mis¬ 
tress, and Grace petted and fed the scrubby-look- 
ing mustang until Sam took the animal away and 
tethered him. 

“We found him grazin’ ’bout fifteen mile down 
the valley,” explained Pete. 

“ What about the men who stole him? ” 
demanded Bindloss. 

“ We didn’t find ’em,” said Pete. “ Thar was 
three dead mustangs out thar, though, but saddles 
and bridles had been taken off, leavin’ nothin’ to 
identify the outfit by.” 

“ See any blood? ” questioned Sam Conifer. 

“Wal, I reckon as thar was some,” answered 
Pete, with a grin. “ This is the bunch thet got 
yer mustangs, folks. No doubt ’bout thet. Boss, 
what do ye reckon on our doin’ next? ” 

“ Help these folks move up to the ranch-house.” 

“ Thank you, but we can attend to that. We 
have our mules and one pony with which to oper¬ 
ate,” spoke up Tom Gray. “ If you will arrange 
to get Lieutenant Wingate up, as you have sug¬ 
gested, we shall be all set.” 


88 


GRACE HARLOWE 


Nevada was sent to the ranch to fetch the 
buckboard and returned with it in about an 
hour. In the meantime the cowpunchers were 
interested witnesses to the breaking of camp, in 
which all the Overlanders except Hippy partici¬ 
pated, and in a short time packs were rolled and 
Jim-Sam were lashing them to the mules and to 
Ginger. 

“ I reckon these heah folks ain’t no tender- 
feet,” observed Sierra, as the cowboys rode away. 

“ Have ye jest found thet out? ” drawled Two- 
gun Pete. “ If they kin all fit like the Dude 
kin, the rustlers better hike fer the mountains an’ 
stay thar.” 

Nora, riding with Hippy, swung a hand to the 
men as the buckboard passed them on the way 
to the Circle O ranch, and by the time the rest of 
the party reached there Hippy was taking what 
ease he could get on a cot on the front porch of the 
ranch-house. 

The Overland Riders pitched their camp on a 
little rise of ground a short distance to the rear 
of the ranch buildings, and the cowpunchers ob¬ 
served this further operation with interest. 

“ Good job,” approved Idaho. 

“Thank you,” smiled Grace. “We hope you 
boys will come around whenever you can. You 
all have been mighty kind to us and we appreci¬ 
ate it.” 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


89 


“ Where did you folks larn to do things like 
you do? ” asked Nevada. 

“ Mostly from our western experiences. Of 
course we learned a few things in the war.” 

“ The war? Was you thar? ” laughed Sierra. 

“ Yes. I drove an ambulance. The other 
young women were in the service as hospital 
workers, and the like. My husband, Tom Gray, 
was a Captain of Engineers, and Lieutenant Win¬ 
gate was a flier — a fighting pilot,” Grace in¬ 
formed them. 

“ Gee whiz! Ain’t thet the limit? ” wondered 
Idaho. 

“ The next question is, what are we going to do 
for horses? Do any of you boys know where we 
can buy or rent some? ” 

“Mebby the Old Man might sell ye what ye 
need,” suggested Sallie, who was in charge of the 
corral for Bindloss. “ I’ll arsk him.” 

Grace thanked him, but said Tom Gray would 
take the matter up with the rancher. Later in 
the morning Tom informed her that he had al¬ 
ready done so, and that arrangements had been 
made to rent such ponies as they needed. Bind¬ 
loss, he said, did not want to take money from 
them, but that the Overlander had insisted on his 
doing so. The arrangement, Tom said, was that 
they were to pay a rental of two dollars a week 
for each pony, and in the event of any of the 


90 


GRACE HARLOWE 


animals being lost or injured, the Overland Riders 
were to settle for the ponies at the rate of twenty- 
five dollars a head. 

This was satisfactory to all hands, and on the 
following day they were to select their mounts. 

That noon they took their luncheon with the 
rancher and his men in the bunk-house, by special 
invitation. After dinner Nora sang a song, 
Emma Dean recited a pathetic little selection to 
which she gave the title of “ The Cowboy’s Love,” 
but which, instead of being about a cowboy, was 
the story of a child lost on the desert, and adopted 
by a mother wolf that had lost its own offspring. 

The Overlanders were of the opinion that 
Emma made up the story, but at any rate it made 
a hit and moved some of the cowpunchers to tears, 
for cowpunchers, like sailors, are sentimental 
under their rough exteriors. Emma’s eyes were 
twinkling mischievously when she finished and 
observed the effect of her story. 

The cowmen wiped their eyes, then gave her a 
cowboy yell. Stacy Brown rose and bowed low 
in acknowledgment, which brought a loud guffaw. 
The dance that had been so rudely interrupted on 
a previous occasion was then resumed, and thirty 
minutes later the gathering broke up, every cow¬ 
boy face wearing a broad grin. The Overlanders 
surely had brought sunshine to the Circle O 
ranch. 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


91 

As all hands strolled out into the open, Emma 
walking at the side of Two-gun Pete, gazing up 
soulfully into his embarrassed face, Elfreda Briggs 
pointed to a cloud of dust far down the valley, 
a cloud that was rolling rapidly towards them. 

“ That looks like a young tornado,” observed 
Stacy. 

“ I reckon thet’s it, and on a hoss, too,” said 
Idaho. 

“ On a horse? ” wondered Emma. 

“ Yes. You’ll see when it gits heah. Wait! ” 
chuckled Idaho. 

The Overland party now watched the cloud 
with new interest, and the cowboys laughed as 
they observed the puzzled expression on the faces 
of their guests. 

“ It is someone on a horse. You can’t fool me,” 
cried Emma. 

“ Yes, and it is a girl, too,” added Elfreda. 

The rider came on like an incipient whirlwind, 
her mustang on a run. She shot by the specta¬ 
tors and went on for some distance, then, circling 
out into the valley, came dashing up to them and 
flung herself from the saddle. 

The newcomer gazed from one to another of the 
Overland Riders, while the cowpunchers chuckled 
to themselves. They knew the girl and looked 
for something interesting to follow. It did. 

“ I’m Judy! Who be you? ” she demanded. 


92 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ We are the Overland Riders,” answered Stacy 
Brown pompously. 

Judy eyed the fat boy frowningly, then once 
more ran her gaze over the rest of the party. 

“My gosh! You are a sweet bunch of dudes, 
ain’t you? Here you, Idaho Jones, take my 
cayuse,” she demanded, tossing the bridle-rein to 
the grinning cowboy. 

Judy Hornby, in introducing herself to the new¬ 
comers in the Coso Valley, had done so in 
characteristic fashion. 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


93 


CHAPTER IX 

JUDY SPEAKS OUT 

M y J ELLO, little gal!” cried Bindloss, 

I-1 coming forward with extended hand 

JL JL and smiling face. 

“ Hello! Why don’t you introduce me to your 
friends? ” 

“ Why, Judy, don’t you know them? ” 

“No, but I’m goin’ to in ’bout a minute,” 
answered Judy, who shook hands and commented 
on each member of the Overland party as Joe 
Bindloss introduced her. “ Some knock-down, 
ain’t it? ” grinned Judy after the introductions 
had been finished. “ My Pap says you folks ain’t 
no great scratch an’ that you ain’t here for no 
good. Pap says that Old Joe Bindloss better 
build a corral ’bout his cattle or he’ll lose ’em with 
all these new folks roamin’ ’round in the hills. 
Be you a fine lady, or ain’t you? ” demanded the 
mountain girl, fixing her eyes on Elfreda Briggs. 
J. Elfreda flushed under the scrutiny. 

“ No. I am just a plain, ordinary woman, a 
bachelor girl and — ” 


94 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ In other words, an old maid, Miss Hornby,” 
Emma Dean explained. 

“ Cut the ‘Miss.’ My name’s Judy. What’s 
your handle? ” 

“ Emma.” 

“ All right, Emma. Now the rest of you give 
me your handles, then we’ll be down to cases,” 
whereupon the Overlanders dutifully gave her 
their given names. “My gosh! What a lot of 
highfalutin’ names. I should think they would 
keep you folks awake nights.” 

The Overlanders laughed heartily and Judy 
joined in the laugh, though with little idea what 
she was laughing at. The mountain girl had, in 
her lifetime, seen but few persons who did not 
belong to desert or mountain, and these bright¬ 
eyed girls were a revelation to her, because, as she 
expressed it, “ most all that kind is stuck up.” 

If Judy was interested in her new acquaint¬ 
ances, they surely were even more attracted to 
her. She was a splendid type, her dark, hand¬ 
some face unspoiled by the strenuous outdoor life 
she led, and her figure possessing lines that would 
have been the envy of any woman. Judy was 
only nineteen, so she said, but she looked more. 
That she could ride, the Overlanders had the evi¬ 
dence of their own eyes, and that she could shoot, 
was to be inferred from the business-like looking 
revolver that swung at her hip. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


95 


“ Not all are ‘ stuck up/ ” differed Grace laugh¬ 
ingly. “We are not. If we were we probably 
should not be here, roughing it, when we might be 
at home taking our ease and getting fat.” 

“Judy, you mustn’t take too seriously what 
Grace says. Remember, she and Nora are here 
with their husbands, both old married women, 
here because their husbands want to live part of 
the year in the open. That’s the way women do 
when they love their husbands,” volunteered 
Elfreda. 

“ A-huh! What are you doin’ here, then? ” 

“ Because I love the open and love my friends 
who also enjoy it.” 

“ What’s love? ” flung back the mountain girl. 

“ Why — I — I — Perhaps you had better ask 
Emma. Old maids are not supposed to be au¬ 
thorities on that subject,” answered Miss Briggs, 
her color rising. 

“ Love? Why, Judy, love is the most won¬ 
derful thing in the world,” cried Emma dramati¬ 
cally, as Judy turned to her inquiringly. Emma’s 
eyes were rolling and she registered extreme emo¬ 
tion, greatly to the amusement of her companions. 

“ My gosh! Ain’t goin’ to have a fit, be ye? ” 
exclaimed Judy, whereat the Overland Riders 
shouted. 

“Have you ever been in love?” interjected 
Nora. 


96 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ I don’t know, Nora. Once I seen a fellow in 
a play in a tent over at Carrago, and he was some 
man, believe me. I jest sat there and looked at 
him and my heart got so wiggly that I couldn’t 
do nothin’ with it at all. But thet wan’t nothin’ 
to what happened later in the day when I met him 
on the street. He seen me lookin’ at him an’ 
smiled an’ bobbed his hat to me. My gosh! I 
near fainted. I sure thought I was goin’ to die 
right there. Never had no such feelin’ in all my 
life.” 

“ Yes? ” urged the girls, doing their best to keep 
from laughing. 

“ Did you get acquainted with him? ” asked 
Grace. 

“No. I didn’t dast. My Pap was with me, 
but I went home and cried. Can you beat it? ” 

“ Oh, my dear, you were in love. You surely 
were ” cried Emma. 

“ Was I? ” wondered the mountain girl. “ Was 
you ever that way, Emma? ” 

“Ever? Oh, help!” murmured Miss Briggs. 
“ Judy, she is even making love to these fine cow¬ 
boys. Doesn’t that make you jealous? ” 

“ Jealous? Of them rough-necks? Wal, I 
reckon not. I don’t reckon on that kind of critter. 
I want a real man, I want to fly, to see what’s on 
t’other side of them mountain ranges. I want to 
be a real lady an’ know ’bout things. My gosh, 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


97 


how I want to be like that! It's right in here! ” 
cried Judy, clapping a hand over her heart. “ I 
want to so much that it aches, it hurts like as if a 
rattler had given me a jab there. I tried poul¬ 
ticin’ but it wan’t no good. Pap said it was what 
I needed, but it wan’t, and here I am. What do 
you reckon I ought to do? ” finished Judy, passing 
a quick hand over her eyes. 

The Overlanders did not laugh. There was a 
tragic note in the voice of the mountain girl that 
stirred their sympathies and moved them. Grace 
slipped an arm about her. 

“ Judy, I wish you might come with us while 
we are riding the ranges. Perhaps we might teach 
you things that would make you more contented 
with your life,” said Grace, her voice full of 
sympathy. “ Would you like to do that? ” 

“ Like it? I’d be so dum tickled that I couldn’t 
hold myself.” 

“ Then why not come? ” urged Nora. 

“ I don’t dast. Pap would take it out of me 
right smart.” 

“ You don’t mean he would punish you — that 
he would lay hands on you? ” begged Elfreda. 

“ Him wallop me? Wal, I reckon not! I ain’t 
packin’ no gun for nothin’.” 

“ Judy! ” cried Nora. “ You mustn’t say such 
things. Why not let us ask your father to let 
you go with us? ” 

7 - Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


GRACE HARLOWE 


98 


“ Ask him t " Judy shook her head with em¬ 
phasis. “ You folks keep away from Pap if you 
know what's good for you. Pap's got a grouch 
on most of the time, and he ain't particular 'bout 
who knows it. You keep away from Pap, 'cause 
he don't set much store by this here outfit. He 
reckons as you ain't got no business here, an’ if 
you come foolin' round he'll chase you out. 
Would you go? ” she demanded abruptly. 

“ It has been tried on us on other occasions, 
but up to the present time we have never gone 
until we were quite ready to do so," answered 
Miss Briggs. 

“ I wondered what you'd do, when I dreamed 
somethin' ’bout you last night — " 

“ Dreamed? Do you dream, Judy?" cried 
Emma, her face full of sudden interest. 

“ I reckon I do. I dreamed 'bout that actor 
feller for a month." 

“ Oh, isn’t that adorable!" bubbled Emma. 
“ The imponderable quality is working in you. 
Listen, dear. When you have another dream, you 
come straight to me and I’ll make a psycho¬ 
analysis of it and tell you what it means." 

“ My gosh! If I could talk like that I'd be 
a real lady, wouldn't I? Where you goin’ from 
here? " 

“ We don't know. All depends upon how my 
husband gets along with his wounds. He was 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


99 


shot in a fight with the men who, we believe, 
stole our ponies, but we hope that he will be able 
to ride in a short time,” answered Nora. 

“ Ain’t that too bad? Gosh! If a fellow hurt 
my man I reckon I’d do some shootin’ for my¬ 
self,” observed Judy. “ Who do you think rustled 
them ponies? ” 

Tom Gray said they did not know, but that 
they proposed to find out, and asked her if she 
or her father had any suspicion as to who the 
rustlers were. Judy shook her head. 

“ I don’t know nothin’. That’s what I’ve been 
trying to tell you. Say, Emma, what’s that word 
you got off jest now? ” 

“ Imponderable,” intoned Stacy gloomily. 

“ I didn’t ask you, Mr. Fatty. Write it down, 
Emma, and I’ll try it on Pap. I’ll bet there’ll be 
some fun. Wal, I reckon I’ll be hittin’ the trail 
for home. So long, Tom. Hippy, I hopes your 
laig gets better right smart,” she called to the 
Overlander on the porch. “ ’Itye, girls.” 

“ Come again soon, and as often as you can,” 
urged Grace. 

“ Sure I will. Mebby I can’t get back to-day, 
but I’ll try. Say, Emma, I’m goin’ to practice 
that word on Butte. That’s my mustang. If he 
stands for it I reckon Pap can,” finished Judy, 
starting slowly towards her pony, arms linked 
with Grace and Elfreda. “ Butte’s got a temper 


100 


GRACE HARLOWE 


somethin’ like Pap’s. I reckon he got it from 
Pap, too. Let’s see. What’s that word? Im — 
impond’ble. All right. Jest watch me.” 

Judy swung lightly into her saddle. 

“ G’wan, you impond’ble, dad-busted cayuse,” 
she shouted, touching the animal lightly with a 
spur. 

Butte responded instantly. Uttering a grunt, 
both hind heels went into the air before Judy 
had succeeded in getting her feet into the stirrups. 

The mountain girl made a quick reach for the 
swinging stirrups and missed, whereupon the mus¬ 
tang leaped clear of the ground, coming down 
stiffly on all four feet, head down with hind 
quarters shooting into the air. Judy was cata¬ 
pulted over his head and landed on her back with 
a whack that should have knocked all the breath 
out of her. 

Tom Gray made a quick spring for the pony’s 
head and grabbed the bridle. The pony fought 
him, but a firm grip on the animal’s nose shut 
off his breathing and subdued him in a moment. 

The girls ran to Judy just as she sat up. Judy 
was a little dazed, but she grinned. 

“ Oh, you poor girl! You’re hurt,” cried Nora. 

“ Mebby I be, but I reckon the ground is hurt 
worse. Anyhow what happened to me an’ the 
ground ain’t a flea-bite to what’s goin’ to happen 
to Butte afore we gets home. Say, Emma! I 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


101 


don’t reckon as I’ll say that word to Pap all of a 
sudden. I’m too dad-busted sore now to have 
another fight on my hands to-night, and I’ll be 
sorer by the time I gets home. I’m goin’ to ride 
him this time.” 

Judy again flung herself into the saddle, and 
this time both feet caught the stirrups. The 
mustang instantly threw himself into another 
buck. The spur dug into him harder and harder 
and Judy’s whip came down on his flank again and 
again. A leap carried them clear of the Overland 
party, and for the next few moments they were 
treated to the most spirited exhibition of horse¬ 
manship that they had ever seen. Old Bindloss 
was shaking with laughter, and the cowpunchers 
were howling with delight and firing their six- 
shooters into the air. 

“ She’s got him! ” cried Emma. “ Oh, I wish 
I could ride like that. There she comes! ” 

Judy, who was by now a full quarter of a mile 
out in the valley, had whirled and was driving 
straight at them. On she came, the pony’s efforts 
to unseat its rider growing less and less, as its 
speed increased. 

“ Whoo — pe-e-e-e! ” yelled Judy in her shrill, 
high-pitched voice as she reached the Overlanders, 
and turning, tore off down the valley where she 
was soon lost to sight in a cloud of dust. 


102 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER X 

THE ROUND-UP 

J UDY HORNBY did not return to the Circle 
O ranch that day nor the next, and when 
she did she was not nearly so talkative as 
before. The girl, however, listened eagerly to all 
that her new-found friends had to say to her, and 
what they said was intended to be helpful to 
this unusual young woman who had known little 
companionship of her own sex. 

After a time her tongue loosened a little and 
she told them that “ Pap ” had forbidden her to 
visit them unless he told her to go. Judy de¬ 
clared that she didn’t give a rap whether he liked 
it or not, and that she was going to ride over to 
the Circle O ranch whenever she felt like it. 

“ He don’t dast do nothing to me anyway. I 
reckon it’s because I tried that ‘ impond’able ’ 
thing on him. When he asked me where I got it 
an’ I told him over here, you ought to seen him 
git mad. Pap sure was a scream. Lemme look 
at your hair,” she added abruptly, addressing Miss 
Briggs, who nodded good-naturedly. 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 103 

“ Gosh! Ain’t that fine? But for the love of 
Mike, how do you do it? ” 

“ I will do yours if you wish/' offered Elfreda. 

“ Would you? ” 

“ Of course,” answered J. Elfreda. “ Sit down 
and I will see what I can do with it. You have 
beautiful hair, and I am not eager to see you 
wear it any other way than you do now — down 
your back.” 

Greatly to the amusement of her companions, 
Miss Briggs performed an elaborate piece of hair¬ 
dressing, building up a wonderful tower of shin¬ 
ing brown on the mountain girl’s head. Then a 
mirror was brought and Judy was permitted to 
look at the result, the Overlanders awaiting the 
verdict in silent expectancy. 

Judy gazed into the mirror for some moments 
before looking up. 

“ Gosh-a’mighty, I’m a lady now for sure, ain’t 
I? ” she breathed, heaving a deep sigh. 

After a time the Overland girls sought to ex¬ 
plain to her that it was not the dress she wore nor 
the way she wore her hair, but her breeding, that 
made the lady. Judy listened attentively to the 
brief lecture read to her by Grace and Elfreda, 
then started for home, this time at a slow jog. 
Judy was in a thoughtful mood. 

For the next week she was a daily visitor at the 
Circle 0 ranch. Hippy Wingate was again on his 


104 


GRACE HARLOWE 


feet, but still wearing a bandage on his head and 
walking with a cane. His companions were in no 
haste to leave him; in fact they had been waiting 
for his recovery quite willingly because they had 
been urged by Bindloss to stay for the round-up 
that was now close at hand, when the cattle 
would be rounded up into herds and the fat ones 
cut out, branded again and driven to a shipping 
point for market. Bindloss promised his guests 
a lively time. The cowpunchers, too, were look¬ 
ing forward to the occasion with more than their 
ordinary interest, for in it they saw an opportunity 
to show their horsemanship and skill to the Over¬ 
land girls. 

Judy Hornby was invited to accompany the 
party to the round-up, but for some reason she 
refused, and went away that day with her face 
dark and resentful. The Overlanders were at a 
loss to account for the sudden change in her. 

The day of the big round-up arrived, and the 
ranch presented a scene of activity long before 
daylight that morning. There was much equip¬ 
ment to be shipped down the valley, for the first 
herd to be rounded up were grazing more than 
twenty miles away, not very far from Judy’s log- 
cabin home, where her father had quite a herd of 
cattle of his own, though small compared with the 
Bindloss herds. His brand was the “ Double Q ” 
while Bindloss’s was the “ Circle 0.” 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


105 


Lieutenant Wingate, not feeling able to take 
the long ride, decided to remain at the ranch- 
house until one of the herds near by was rounded 
up. He could watch the round-up, then easily 
get back to the ranch-house should he find it 
necessary to do so. There being no reason for 
Jim-Sam’s remaining at the ranch, Bindloss ac¬ 
cepted their offer to assist in the round-up. 

“ I am going to help, too,” promised Emma, as 
they were eating breakfast in camp next morning 
with Bindloss as their guest. 

“ No, you ain’t,” replied the rancher. “ You 
keep out of it and stay where you’re safe. There’s 
some wild ones in the bunch we are going after 
to-day.” 

Tom Gray was accepted as a novice, and a 
pony that knew the ropes was assigned to him for 
the work. Bindloss told him that so long as he 
gave the animal its head he would be reasonably 
safe. 

The Overlanders got a later start than the 
others, but managed to get away shortly after 
daybreak. It was a wonderful ride through the 
fragrant morning air, one that every member of 
the party thoroughly enjoyed. Hippy in the 
meantime was having a glorious morning, too — 
snoring in the ranch-house, where he proposed to 
remain all day and have “ peace and quiet,” as 
he expressed it. 


106 


GRACE HARLOWE 


As they neared the scene of the round-up, near 
mid-forenoon, the Overlanders rode up the first 
bluff of the foothills, as they had been directed to 
do, and then followed along parallel with the 
valley. As they drew near they suddenly found 
themselves gazing down upon the scene that they 
had come so far to see — a western round-up. 

A great herd — thousands of them, it seemed — 
were milling about on the plain below them, 
making the dust fly in suffocating clouds, while 
wilder ones of the herd were galloping for the 
foothills. Calves were running about bawling for 
their mothers, and frantic cows were splitting the 
herd in search of them. Above the din rose 
shrill and clear the calls of the cowpunchers, calls 
that were familiar, especially to the steers, who 
seemed to know the meaning of them even if they 
did do exactly the opposite to what was expected 
of them. 

Up and down the rolling foothills raced the 
long-horns, with ponies ridden by yelling, shout¬ 
ing, dare-devil riders, in pursuit. Here and there 
a lasso wriggled through the air, spun by an irate 
cowboy, and a big steer went down on his nose. 

A bunch of wild steers raced past the Over¬ 
landers, and Stacy, suddenly deciding that it was 
his duty to drive them back, galloped after them. 

The fat boy soon found himself in the midst of 
a charging, bellowing mass of wild steers whose 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


107 


long horns and threatening jabs at his mustang, 
made him wish that he had kept out of it. He 
was in a more perilous position than he realized. 
The girls were shouting for him to come back, 
but in the uproar Stacy did not hear them, nor 
could he have obeyed had he heard. 

Two-gun Pete was the first to discover the boy’s 
predicament. He came flashing up the grade, 
past the girls, but without looking at them, and 
rode on until he had reached the herd. There 
he began uttering shrill yells that were heard 
above the uproar. Pete, at the risk of his pony’s 
life, if not his own, dodged in and out until he 
got to the side of the fat boy. 

“ Hot-foot it out of this, you tenderfoot! ” he 
roared. 

“All right. Show me the way, you cow- 
puncher! ” flung back Stacy. 

“ Follow me, but not too close.” Pete, exerting 
mighty efforts, soon split the herd apart, and 
into the opening thus made, Stacy rode without 
further urging, and in a few moments he was clear 
of the herd. “ Now git back with ye and stay 
back! ” 

Now that he was up there, Pete decided to head 
off the wild bunch. He rode his sweating mustang 
until it seemed as if he would ride the little 
animal off its feet, and little by little he bunched 
the unruly steers and started them towards the 


108 


GRACE HARLOWE 


valley, when they suddenly headed straight for 
the position occupied by the Overlanders. 

“ They’ll run us down! ” cried Nora. 

“ No! We can get away if they get too close. 
Ride for them and yell like all possessed. Try 
to turn them to their left,” urged Grace. 

The Overland girls, fired with the same spirit 
that was urging the cowpunchers in their work, 
started forward at a gallop, waving their som¬ 
breros and uttering such screeches as probably 
not only astounded, but frightened the outlaw 
steers. The cattle, however, held to their course 
just the same. Two-gun Pete saw and under¬ 
stood what the girls were trying to do. He also 
understood full well the risk they were taking. 
Pete pealed out a shrill, far-reaching warning, but 
they did not hear. 

“Yell, you Overlanders! ” screamed Elfreda 
Briggs, and, taking her own advice, she uttered 
yell after yell, that Two-gun Pete later declared 
on his honor as a cowpuncher frightened one 
tough old maverick to death. At least the animal 
was found dead at about that point, later on in 
the day. 

J. Elfreda evidently turned the tide, for a 
leader swerved, and the herd followed him and 
went plunging down the slope. 

“ Hot stuff, but don’t ye do it again! ” shouted 
the cowboy as he followed the herd down the 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


109 


foothill and out into the valley, where other cow- 
punchers came to his assistance and rounded it up. 

The girls, now that the excitement was ended, 
suddenly felt weak in the knees. They realized 
that they had taken a desperate chance, and that 
they had not been unhorsed, and perhaps gored to 
death, was due to great good luck, and to the 
far-reaching power of the dignified Elfreda Briggs' 
voice, rather than to any skill on their part. 

“ That was a fool thing to do,” observed Stacy, 
who now came trotting up to them. 

“ Why, you unappreciative creature! ” rebuked 
Emma. “ Don't you know that we were trying 
to save your life? ” 

“ Save nothing! ” growled Stacy. 

“ Thank you,” bowed Emma. “ I could not 
have said it better myself,” whereupon the other 
girls laughed merrily, and Stacy drew off by him¬ 
self where he sat sullenly observing the work 
going on below him. 

All day the milling about, the cutting-out, the 
yells and the bellows, with here and there a sharp 
encounter between cowboy and an ugly steer, con¬ 
tinued without a let-up. No one thought of 
eating. There was too much work to be done, 
and even the Overlanders forgot their noon 
luncheon which they had brought with them. 

At twilight the cowmen were still busy, but 
by this time they had several hundred animals 


110 


GRACE HARLOWE 


in the big corral, and in another a bunch of 
stock for branding, while out on the range as 
many more animals were stirring about restlessly. 
Campfires began to spring up here and there, 
over which tired riders cooked their slender 
suppers and rested before taking up the work of 
the night. This work included branding and 
keeping rounded-up the stock left out on the 
range. Bindloss joined the Overlanders at their 
coffee and bacon. He was covered with dust and 
his voice was hoarse from yelling at cattle and 
at his riders. 

“ How long is this thing going to continue? ” 
questioned Stacy Brown. 

“ All night, young feller. Of course things will 
quiet down dong ’bout midnight. We’ve got 
to get some rest, you know.” 

Grace said she thought that they should be 
starting back towards camp after supper, but 
Bindloss shook his head. 

“ Some of the men will be going in later in the 
evening. I’d rather have you folks wait and ride 
in with them,” he said, but without giving any 
reason for the request. “ You can ride ’bout after 
supper, but keep away from milling bunches, and 
see the sights. You’ll be interested in the brand¬ 
ing, if you’ve never seen it done.” 

Soon after supper the girls of the party, accom¬ 
panied by Stacy, rode down the valley. There 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


111 


they scattered somewhat, Emma first having dis¬ 
covered Two-gun Pete and stopping to talk with 
him. Stacy rode on, saying that he wished to 
see the rest of the show. 

Pete told Emma that he did not like the way 
the cattle had been acting that day. He averred 
that something had been stirring them up of late, 
but reckoned it must be a mountain lion that had 
been trying to get the calves. Whether or not the 
beast had succeeded he said he did not know, 
for no one knew how many calves there were in 
any of the herds. 

Two-gun Pete had work to do, so Emma rode 
on and joined her companions whom she found 
chatting with the owner of the ranch, who sat 
his pony surveying the activity that was every¬ 
where. They wondered how he could make any¬ 
thing out of all the confusion in the darkness, 
which the many little fires merely accentuated. 
Joe Bindloss, however, knew exactly what was 
going on at all points of the round-up. 

Idaho Jones interrupted the conversation when 
he came galloping up to the party. 

“Hey, Boss! ” he called. “I been lookin’ all 
over fer ye.” The voice of the cowpuncher held 
an urgent note that each member of the party 
before him felt. 

“ Eh? What’s wrong? ” demanded Bindloss 
sharply. 


112 GRACE HARLOWE 

“ Pop Skinner jest rode in, an’ he’s lookin’ fer 
ye hot-foot. He says as he reckons thar’s trouble 
up in the valley.” 

“ What about? ” 

“ He didn’t wait to tell me.” 

“Find him — find him and fetch him here 
almighty quick! Hump yourself! ” commanded 
Bindloss. 

“ Co—o-o-o-o! Pop, heah,” yelled Idaho, his 
quick eye discovering the man for whom he was 
looking, and out of the darkness shot a gray mus¬ 
tang bearing down on them. “ Thar he is now.” 

“ What’s wrong? ” shouted Bindloss. 

“ I don’t reckon as I know, Boss, but as I was 
cornin’ down to jine the outfit heah, I runned 
across Sallie guardin’ the number six herd. He 
said as he’d seen a bunch of riders come out of 
the foothills, ’bout four mile above heah an’ head 
off in the direction of the ranch an’ he thought 
ye better know ’bout it. As I was cornin’ down 
anyway, I made a hustle. ’Bout half way down 
I heard rifle shots up-valley. Thet’s all I knows 
’bout it, but I reckoned you ought to know.” 

“ Get Pete and all the other fellers you can 
skin in a hurry and light out for the ranch. 
There’s trouble, and I’ve felt it somehow all 
day! ” 

While Bindloss was giving his orders another 
cowpuncher rode in on a pony that was dripping 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


113 


lather. He, too, was from somewhere up the Coso 
Valley and he was excited. 

“ They've attacked the ranch, Boss! ” he fairly 
flung at Bindloss. 

“ Who's attacked it? " roared the rancher. 

“ Don’t know nothin' 'bout thet, but I seen an 5 
heard the firin' and thar's the old Harry to pay 
up thar." 

Idaho had already ridden away to gather a 
bunch of his fellows for the ride back to the ranch, 
and while this was being done Bindloss eagerly 
questioned the two men who had brought him evil 
tidings. Perhaps Bindloss had an idea as to who 
the men from the mountain were, but if so he 
did not inform the disturbed Overlanders. They 
were thinking of Hippy up there alone in the 
ranch-house, himself suffering from wounds and 
perhaps helpless in the hands of a band of moun¬ 
tain ruffians. 

“ We must go! " cried Nora. 

“Yes, we will go," answered Grace. “I wish 
I could find Tom." 

“ They’ll get him," answered Bindloss. “ You’ll 
have to ride some if you keep up with the cow- 
punchers, and this ain't no pleasure trip neither. 
Here they come! " 

Pete was leading the party of rough-riders that 
came racing towards him, and with them was Tom 
Gray. His companions of the Overland party 

8 - Grace Harlowe at Circle O Ranch 


114 


GRACE HARLOWE 


hardly recognized him, for his clothes were covered 
with dust and his face was streaked where the 
perspiration had trickled through the grime. 

“ Orders, Boss? ” called Pete. 

“Ride! Ride the cayuses to death, but get 
there, that’s all. Go! ” 

The cowboys pulled their mustangs and fairly 
lifted them, rearing and wheeling, and were off 
like projectiles, fierce fires burning in every cow¬ 
boy heart, and the lust for battle and revenge 
taking full possession of them. 

The Overland Riders were not many seconds 
behind them in starting, nor did they have to urge 
their mustangs, who were as eager as they to keep 
up with the reckless riders ahead, riders that were 
using spur and voice in the wild night ride up the 
Coso Valley. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


115 


CHAPTER XI 

HIPPY DEFENDS THE RANCH 

L ieutenant wingate after a re- 

freshing afternoon’s sleep had remained 
' up long enough to brew tea and fry bacon 
and eggs for himself. It was dusk when he 
finished his supper. 

“ I ought to wash the dishes, I suppose, but 
I think I’ll let the girls do that. There is some 
satisfaction in being a convalescent,” he decided, 
grinning at his own humor. “ Queer thing about 
convalescence — when you get through with your 
sleep you are ready for another. Ho, hum! ” 
Hippy, with the aid of a cane, hobbled out to 
the porch that fronted the valley and sat down on 
his cot, then lay back breathing in the soft breezes 
from mountain and plain. 

“ This is the life,” he muttered, sinking into a 
half doze. 

All at once the Overland Rider pulled himself 
into keen wakefulness. He was positive that he 
heard horses approaching, but they seemed to be 
a long way off. His first thought was that either 


116 


GRACE HARLOWE 


the Overlanders or some of the cowboys were on 
their way home, but with the caution born of 
experience, he decided to lie quietly and wait. 

The hoof-beats ceased, so far as he was able 
to hear, and silence settled over the valley, broken 
now and then by the howl of a hungry coyote. 
Somehow this sudden silence got on the nerves 
of Lieutenant Hippy Wingate, and getting up he 
hobbled into the ranch-house and strapped on his 
revolver holster. Bethinking himself of Bind- 
loss's rifle he got that, examined the chambers 
and, as he expected, found it fully loaded. 

“Now we are all set," he muttered. He had 
reached the ranch-house door when he halted 
sharply and gazed into the night over which the 
stars shed a faint light, making objects within 
the range of his vision stand out in unreal and 
fantastic shapes. Hippy, however, did see some¬ 
thing moving, something that was quite real. 
This something was a man, and as he gazed other 
figures were discovered. 

“I wonder if that’s some of the boys?” he 
muttered. Upon second thought he decided that 
the cowpunchers would not be moving about so 
quietly. Three appeared to have come from the 
direction of the Overland camp at the rear of the 
ranch-house, and Hippy then knew that all was 
not well at the Circle O ranch. He stepped back, 
softly closed and bolted the door, and took his 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


117 


place at a window that had been pulled down 
from the top. From that vantage point he 
watched with straining eyes. 

The men appeared to be investigating, undoubt¬ 
edly for the purpose of learning whether or not 
there were anyone about the place. One finally 
turned his attention to the ranch-house, first 
cautiously trying the door, then peering in through 
the window. Hippy had stepped aside as the 
man approached him, and a few seconds later he 
saw a face pressed against the pane. 

After a moment of peering, the fellow carefully 
raised both windows from the bottom and thrust 
his head in. 

Hippy pressed his body against the wall and 
grasped his revolver by the barrel. The fellow’s 
shoulders were thrust in and the watcher saw that 
he was about to climb in. 

Lieutenant Hippy Wingate took instant ad¬ 
vantage of the opportunity and brought the butt 
of his revolver down with full force on the in¬ 
truder’s head. The whack was so loud that the 
Overlander thought ■ the others must hear, and, 
without an instant’s hesitation, he grabbed and 
dragged the unconscious man into the room. 

“ I hope I haven’t killed the ruffian! ” A hand 
placed over the man’s heart told Hippy that he 
had not. Hippy, knowing that there was a lasso 
hanging in Bindloss’s room, in fact that there 


118 


GRACE HARLOWE 


were several there, hobbled in, and fetching the 
rope, hog-tied the man, after which he put a 
handkerchief gag in the fellow’s mouth. 

“ Good! This is like taking candy from babies,” 
he chuckled, going over to the window and re¬ 
placing it as it was before. This enabled him to 
stand up and look out, and also gave him free 
range in case he found it necessary to use his 
weapons. Bethinking himself of other windows, 
Hippy made a circuit of the lower floor and closed 
and locked them. For a man to get in now would 
necessitate breaking a window, which he surely 
would hear. 

The watcher had no more than returned to his 
open window than he suddenly ducked to one 
side, for he discovered that a second man was 
about to peer in. Unlike the first caller this man 
walked away and went around to the rear of the 
house, but he was back in a few moments, this 
time accompanied by a companion. They were 
whispering, and at this instant the man on the 
floor gave a kick with his heel that stopped the 
whispering instantly. 

Lieutenant Wingate went over to the bound 
man. 

“ Do that again and I’ll settle you! ” he hissed 
with all the savageness that he could put into his 
tone. “ I mean what I say! ” 

Returning to the window he stood to one side 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


119 


watching the two men who were again holding a 
whispered conversation, pausing now and then 
to listen attentively. After a few moments of this, 
one raised the window an inch or so at a time 
and looked in. In the darkness they saw nothing. 

“ I reckon it's all right. I’ll go in an’ ye foller 
me,” said one in a low, guarded tone of voice, 
whereupon he began crawling in. As he landed 
on his hands on the floor, Lieutenant Wingate 
hit him a terrific wallop on the head with the 
butt of his revolver, then made a swift pass with 
it at the head of the other man whose head was 
just inside the window. 

It hit the fellow a glancing blow, and jerking 
his head from the window he fell over backwards, 
then staggering to his feet he ran, uttering a 
warning cry. 

The time for secrecy, so far as Lieutenant Hippy 
Wingate was concerned, had passed. He sent a 
bullet from his revolver after the man and then 
discovering other prowlers trying to get into the 
corral, he snatched up the rifle, and fired at the 
ground just behind them. 

The prowlers scattered in record time and a 
volley of shots pinged into the ranch-house in 
reply. 

The Overland Rider now hastily turned his 
attention to his second victim, and in a few 
minutes he had the man bound and dragged to 


120 


GRACE HARLOWE 


the other side of the room at a distance from the 
first prisoner. 

“ Confound the ruffians! Why couldn’t they 
have come singly? ” he growled. “ I could have 
caught the whole bunch. I reckon maybe there 
will be something doing in a few moments.” 

There was. A rifle crashed out, then another, 
and a snapping fire was directed at the Circle O 
ranch-house, with Hippy lying flat on the floor 
waiting for the shooting to stop. It soon did, 
whereupon the Overlander crept to the window 
and peered out. Not a human being was in sight, 
but the watcher was too old a hand at campaign¬ 
ing to believe that the prowlers had gone away. 
He reasoned, too, that by making no return of 
their fire, they might believe that they had hit 
him. As he had surmised would be the case, a 
man appeared after a time just beyond the corral. 
The fellow darted across and disappeared behind 
the stable where saddles and other equipment 
were stored. 

The man’s next appearance was a few moments 
later when he walked to the corral, looked in and 
strolled back to the protection of the stable. 
Others then appeared, at first exercising the ut¬ 
most caution, but little by little showing that they 
believed danger to them had passed. 

Hippy Wingate chuckled. His ruse had suc¬ 
ceeded, but he knew the end was not yet. At 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 121 

the same time he was groping for the reason for 
the presence of these prowlers. From their 
actions he believed that they were trying to steal 
the ponies, and a moment later he saw them again 
at work trying to break the locked gate of the 
corral. They were battering away at it so boldly 
that he knew they now feared no interruption. 

“ I’ve got to take a chance,” muttered the Over¬ 
land Rider, “ but Ill shoot low. Perhaps I won’t 
hit any of the stock.” 

There was no time to lose, for in a few moments 
those sledge-hammer blows, that were probably 
delivered with a maul or an axe, must produce 
results. 

Taking as careful aim as he could in the un¬ 
certain light, he pulled the trigger and Old Joe 
Bindloss’s rifle roared. 

A yell greeted the shot, by which sign Lieu¬ 
tenant Wingate knew that the bullet had found 
a mark. He fired again, but this time there was 
no answering yell. Two men grabbed up one of 
their number, the party started on a run for the 
stable and Hippy deliberately fired right into the 
group. One man staggered and fell. He was 
quickly dragged away, but not before the Over¬ 
land Rider had emptied his rifle at them, though, 
so far as he was able to discover, without results. 
Accurate shooting was impossible under the con¬ 
ditions. 


122 


GRACE HARLOWE 


The rancher’s rifle was now empty, nor did 
Lieutenant Wingate know where to find more 
ammunition. He possessed his revolver and a 
belt of cartridges which would keep him going for 
some time, provided he were conservative in their 
use, so the rifle was laid aside and the revolver 
took its place. A quick examination of the two 
captives informed him that both were conscious. 

“You fellows! Don’t you make a sound or 
I’ll use the business end of my gun on you,” he 
warned. 

Rifle bullets at this juncture again began rip¬ 
ping through the side of the house, and while 
they were still crunching about the room with a 
chilling sound the Overlander, who was on the 
floor, heard a powerful blow delivered on the door. 
It was followed by other blows. The ruffians were 
trying to beat the door down, and already a panel 
had been shattered. 

Hippy hopped to his feet and placed himself 
before the door, feeling reasonably safe there so 
long as men were standing in front of it. 

Thrusting the muzzle of his weapon close to 
the shattered panel he pulled the trigger, and a 
howl of rage answered it. This shot had not 
missed. 

Before giving the attackers a chance to do 
further damage Hippy fired the remaining 
chambers of his revolver through the door in quick 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


123 


succession. He did not know whether or not he 
had made a hit, but he knew that, for the moment, 
he had effectively checked operations out there. 

A few seconds were lost in reloading, during 
which not a sound reached him from the outside. 
Stooping over, he peered through the shattered 
panel. As he did so there came a sudden burst 
of rifle fire and a dozen bullets ripped through 
the door. 

Lieutenant Wingate straightened up, staggered, 
clapped a hand to his head, half turned and 
crashed full length to the floor. As he lay there, 
bullets continued to thud through the door and 
the siding of the ranch-house, then ceased as sud¬ 
denly as they had begun, but Hippy, some 
moments since, had ceased to hear or know. 


124 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER XII 

AT THE LAST MOMENT 

44 y^MOKE him out!” came the sharp 
command after the firing had died down. 
“That’ll fetch the critter. Then git 

him.” 

Some dead grass, a handful of chips and a 
match did the work, and a flickering blaze was 
soon started under one corner of the ranch-house. 

“ Now the hosses! ” commanded the same voice. 
“Two of ye git behind the house to watch for 
him, the others go fer the mustangs in the corral.” 

The men ran to obey the orders of their leader, 
when a sudden shout from one of them changed 
the plans of the attackers entirely. It was a 
shout of warning. Following it the ruffians 
plainly heard the sound of hoof-beats approaching 
— many of them. They were coming at what 
the trained ears of the mountain ruffians told 
them was a killing pace. 

“ Hit the trail! ” yelled the leader. “ Go south 
and scatter! Hit it hard! ” came the further 
orders. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


125 


The ruffians were in their saddles within a 
minute thereafter, some of them carrying 
wounded companions who had got in the way 
of Hippy Wingate’s bullets, and they were around 
the corner of the corral in a twinkling. Once in 
the shadow of it they faded away into the night, 
just as Two-gun Pete and his companions flashed 
in with guns ready for instant use. 

“ Quick! Eire! ” shouted Idaho. 

“Git water!” yelled Two-gun Pete, leaping 
from his mustang. 

Old Joe Bindloss came up as the cowpunchers 
were dashing water on the flames that were now 
licking at the side of the building. He instantly 
threw himself from his pony and grabbing a pail 
began carrying water and giving orders at the 
same time. The blaze was extinguished in a 
few minutes. The Overland Riders came up at 
this juncture. 

“ Gosh a-mighty, what’s been going on here? ” 
bellowed the rancher. “Look at that door! 
Clean busted in.” 

The boys quickly brought lanterns from the 
stable, and by their light discovered the bullet 
holes in door and siding. Windows, too, were 
shot out at the front of the house. 

“ Thar’s been a fight heah! ” decided Pete. 

“Hippy!” wailed Nora, almost collapsing as 
her pony stopped. 


126 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ We'll find out about thet, Missie,” answered 
Pete. “ Hey, Dude! Re you thar? ” he shouted. 

There was no reply, and the Overlanders ran 
for the house, each one fearing the worst. 

“Back! I reckon I’ll go in first! ” bellowed 
Bindloss. “ It’s my house, and I reckon it’s up 
to me to go in ahead. Boys, get behind me with 
the lights so they don’t get in my eyes. You 
Overlanders keep out of range in case there should 
be some scrapping. No telling what we might 
meet in there.” Bindloss with drawn weapon, 
Two-gun Pete at his side, strode up and kicked 
in the remnants of the front door of his home. 
As the door went down both men leaped lightly 
to one side, fearing an ambush. 

A dead silence followed. 

“ Lights here! ” commanded Bindloss, stepping 
in with revolver thrust before him. 

Nothing happening, cowpunchers and Over¬ 
landers crowded in. They found the old rancher 
standing with a dazed expression on his face. 

“ Gosh a-mighty! ” he muttered over and over. 
“ What’s happened? ” 

It was then that the Overlanders discovered 
the two bound men, and then Hippy at some 
little distance from them, stretched out on his 
face, one hand still grasping his revolver. 

“ Hippy! ” It was a wailing cry from Nora as 
she threw herself down beside him. “ He’s dead! 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


127 


He's dead! They've killed him! " Nora threw 
both arms about her husband and tried to turn 
him over, but he was a dead weight and she 
failed. 

Tom did it for her, the cowpunchers during all 
this time standing with gaping mouths as dazed 
as was their employer. 

Grace and Elfreda were at Hippy’s side in an 
instant, and it was Elfreda who discovered that 
he was not dead. 

“ Light here, please,” requested Miss Briggs in 
a tone so calm that it steadied the others of the 
party. “ Look at this, will you? ” she added. 
“ A bullet has ripped the bandage from his head, 
and torn open the stitches that I put in Hippy's 
scalp.” 

“ Wounded in exactly the same place! ” mur¬ 
mured Grace. “ How strange! ” 

“ What 'bout these cayuses, Boss? ” demanded 
Two-gun Pete, fixing a malignant gaze on the 
two helpless ruffians who were looking from one 
to the other of the party with anxiety in their 
eyes. “ Shall I make a good job of it an’ sarve 
'em the same way somebody has sarved the 
Dude? ” 

“ Shut up! They’ll keep. This man gets first 
attention. Is he bad off, Miss? ” questioned 
Bindloss. 

“ I can’t say,” answered Elfreda. “ If I knew 


128 


GRACE HARLOWE 


how long he has been in this condition I might 
make a better guess.” 

Pete released the gun from Hippy’s hand, felt 
of the barrel, smelled of the muzzle, then looked 
into the cylinder to see how many shots had 
been fired from it. 

“ Ain’t been this way more’n ten or fifteen 
minutes, I reckon. Gun’s warm yit.” 

“ Then it may be only concussion of the brain, 
but I shan’t be able to tell definitely for some 
little time. Some one run to camp and get band¬ 
ages. Tom, will you please go? Fetch my case 
along.” 

Elfreda called for water and by the time Tom 
returned had bathed the wound, the same wound 
reopened, though the scalp on either side of it 
was lacerated somewhat more than before. Re¬ 
storatives were administered by Grace, while 
Elfreda was dressing and re-sewing the wound, 
she believing it best to do this before the patient 
recovered consciousness. Grace was not so suc¬ 
cessful, and at Bindloss’s orders the cowpunchers 
picked up the wounded Overlander and carried 
him to his bed at the back of the house. 

“ Take the gags out of them fellers’ mouths. 
I reckon they’ll have something to say,” drawled 
Bindloss in the cool tone that his men knew from 
experience was a mask for a raging passion 
beneath it. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


129 


The gags were none too gently removed, the 
captives' weapons were jerked from their belts, 
smelled of and examined and found not to have 
been fired that evening. This was evidenced by 
the fact that the cylinders were fully loaded, that 
the barrels were cold, and that there was no odor 
of burnt powder to be detected at the muzzles. 

“ Stand 'em up against the wall and let's have 
a look at 'em! " commanded the rancher, and 
after this had been done, and one of the cowboys 
had held a lantern up to their faces, Bindloss 
squinted at them frowningly. “ Any of you 
fellows know these critters? " 

Each cowpuncher stepped up and took a long, 
stern look at the faces and shook his head. 

“I reckon you two bit off more’n you could 
chew, eh? Who are ye? " demanded Bindloss. 

The captives, now sullen-faced, made no reply. 

“ What happened that you two are hog-tied in 
my house? " 

“ Ain't no use fer to ask questions 'cause you 
ain't goin' to git no answers," growled one. 

“'I'll tell ye what happened," spoke up the 
other captive. “We was ridin' by, an' knowin' 
thet you-all was down the range, seen somethin' 
was goin' on in heah an' we jest come up to look 
in, an' got a crack on the haid. Thet's all." 

“You're a liar! " blazed Joe Bindloss, drawing 
back a clenched fist as if to strike the man, but 


9 - Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


130 


GRACE HARLOWE 


the fist slowly relaxed and his face grew calm 
again. “ You'll talk before I git done with you, 
I promise you that. When the man in there 
wakes up, if he ever does, Ill hear the truth. 
If he dies I’ll shoot every man in these ranges 
if I have to do so to git the right ones, and I’ll 
begin with you, you sneaking coyotes! Take ’em 
out and tie ’em in the barn. And, boys, fix ’em 
so they can’t get away. If there’s any rough 
stuff to be pulled off, I’ll do the pulling. Under¬ 
stand? ” 

The cowpunchers nodded and picked up the 
prisoners. When outside the door the man at the 
head of each prisoner dropped his burden and the 
cowboy at the foot dragged his captive by the 
feet all the way to the stable. Sam Conifer 
followed and stood gazing at the prisoners as the 
cowmen were re-tying them. He was positive 
that he had seen one of the ruffians before, but 
could not place him. 

While this was going on, Jim, who had pro¬ 
cured a lantern and browsed about the ranch, re¬ 
turned to the house. Bindloss was in the room 
with Lieutenant Wingate at the moment, watch¬ 
ing the Overland girls work over him. Hearing 
Jim enter, he stepped out. 

“ Oh! It’s you, is it? ” 

“ Yes. Boss, I been lookin’ ’round heah a little 
an’ I’ve diskivered some things. Thar was seven 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


131 


men in that party. They went up to our camp 
fust, but didn’t take nothin’. Then they come 
down heah an’ tried to git in the corral. Thar’s 
some bullet holes in the posts thar, which I reckon 
was made by Lieutenant Wingate’s rifle. Thar’s 
a rifle on the floor thar. Whose is that? ” 

“ Mine,” exclaimed the rancher, picking up the 
weapon and examining it. “ The magazine is 
empty — fired off this evening.” 

“ Jest so. Some of them bullets is in the stable 
now, an’ some more of ’em hit them rough-necks, 
mebby killed ’em, I can’t say. Leastwise they 
left some blood where two of ’em lay until they 
was carried away on hosses. Thar’s tracks, too, 
that lead right up to that winder thar.” 

“ Good work,” complimented Rindloss. “ What 
beats me, though, is how two of them happened 
to be tied down in the house.” 

“ Three of ’em I trailed up to the winder. One 
of ’em went away in a hurry, but t’other two 
didn’t. I reckon mebby they aire the two fellers 
that ye found heah. The party went south after 
they heard ye cornin’. I reckon that’s what 
started ’em away. I reckon they was tryin’ to 
steal yer mustangs when Lieutenant Wingate put 
er crimp in their little picnic. Eh, Boss? ” 

“ I reckon you’re right, Jim. He must have 
fought them single-handed and when they were 
getting the worst of it they tried to set fire 


132 


GRACE HARLOWE 


to the ranch-house. I reckon we got here just 
in time.” 

“ Yep. Things do work out queer-like some¬ 
times,” agreed the old guide. “ Somebody’s 
cornin’! They’re in a hurry, too,” he warned. 

A horse came to a sliding stop just outside of 
the ranch-house. A rapid exchange of words fol¬ 
lowed between the rider and the cowboys, then 
a dust-covered, breathless cowboy clanked in. 

“ Gosh a-mighty! What’s broke loose now?” 
demanded the rancher. “ Don’t tell me some¬ 
thing else has happened. Speak up! Are you 
tongue-tied? ” 

“ The herd, Pop’s herd, has jest been stampeded 
an’ scattered into the foothills, and Pop’s been 
shot. The fellers thet stampeded the herd give 
him his’n. They aire bringin’ him in now,” an¬ 
swered the rider excitedly. 

Bindloss snatched up his rifle and bolted from 
the door. His cowpunchers already were in their 
saddles. 

“ Grace, if I am not needed here, I’ll go, too,” 
urged Tom. 

“Yes, do,” answered Grace Harlowe. “Tell 
Jim-Sam to stay. Be careful, Tom.” 

“ Safety first,” called back the Overland Rider 
as he dashed out after the rancher. “ Jim-Sam, 
I hold you responsible for the safety of this place 
while we are away.” 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


133 


“ Come on if you're going with me/' shouted 
Bindloss. 

“ I’m with you/' answered Tom, and in an in¬ 
credibly short time the party was thundering 
down the valley. 


CHAPTER XIII 

AN OVERLANDER IS MISSING 

HE vigil of the Overland girls lasted 



through the night. Along towards 


morning Lieutenant Wingate’s breath¬ 
ing became more natural and his heart action 
better. 

“ I am inclined to think that he will regain 
consciousness soon/' announced Miss Briggs. 
“ If he does, it is not a fracture of the skull. Have 
courage, Nora,” she added in answer to the ap¬ 
pealing look from Mrs. Wingate, who had sat 
holding the wounded man’s hand all night long. 

“ I’ve been trying to bring him back, and I’ve 
thought so hard that I just knew he would have 
to come back,” murmured Nora. 

Grace kissed her and patted her cheek. 

“ The imponderable quality lies deep in us all,” 


134 GRACE HARLOWE 

observed Emma more to herself than to her 
companions. 

In the meantime Jim and Sam were prowling 
about, now and then looking in to inquire how 
the patient was getting along, but spending a 
good part of their time at the Overland camp 
which commanded a fairly good view of the ranch 
buildings. 

Shortly after daybreak, Hippy stirred and 
began to mutter. A few moments later he opened 
his eyes, blinked a few times, and smiled up into 
Nora’s face. The Overland girl burst into tears. 

“ If you don’t stop that at once out you go! ” 
threatened Miss Briggs. “ Hippy must have 
absolute quiet. Which shall it be? ” 

“ I’ll be quiet,” promised Nora, conquering the 
sobs that rose to her lips. 

There was instant silence in the room, and in 
a few moments Hippy Wingate sank into a 
natural sleep, from which he did not awaken until 
late in the morning. After some nourishment was 
given him, he asked for explanations. 

The girls told him how they had found him, 
and asked him what had occurred before he was 
put out by a bullet. Hippy related all that he 
could remember of the occurrences of the previous 
night. They then insisted on his going to sleep 
again, which he was quite willing and ready to do. 

No one had been near the stable where the 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


135 


prisoners were held, though Jim-Sam had made 
occasional tours of inspection about the build¬ 
ing throughout the night. The key to the stable 
was in the pocket of Two-gun Pete, so, though 
the prisoners must be hungry, it was plain that 
they would get nothing to eat until the return 
of the rancher and his party. 

Bindloss, and those that had gone out with 
him, returned shortly before noon worn and angry. 
Emma met them in front of the ranch-house 
waving her hat and smiling. 

“ It’s all right,” she cried in answer to a volley 
of questions about Hippy. “ He is sleeping now.” 

“ Whoo—pe-e-e! ” howled the boys. 

“Shut up! The man’s asleep! ” rebuked Joe 
Bindloss, getting down from his saddle and 
stamping about to get the kinks out of his 
legs, for he had not been out of the saddle in 
many hours. 

At this juncture Grace appeared at the door 
of the ranch-house and waved a hand at them. 

“ The lieutenant is awake now and he would 
like to see you, Mr. Bindloss,” she informed the 
rancher. 

Bindloss limped in, and the cowboys, not to be 
denied what they were certain would prove to be 
an interesting interview, flung themselves from 
their ponies and trooped in. They were crowded 
about the door of the injured man’s room by the 


136 


GRACE HARLOWE 


time Joe Bindloss gripped the Overland Rider’s 
hand. 

Hippy sat propped up in bed, his head swathed 
in bandages, and he grinned at the solemn faces 
of the cowpunchers. 

“ I got mine again, fellows. Regular tender¬ 
foot, eh? ” 

The cowpunchers shook their heads. 

“ Wal, now, tell me ’bout it,” urged the rancher. 

To save Hippy from another wearisome recital, 
Miss Briggs repeated what he had already related 
of his experiences. The lines of the cowboy coun¬ 
tenances grew taut during the recital, but no 
word was uttered. They were held by the words 
of Elfreda Briggs, spoken without attempt at em¬ 
bellishment. 

“ An’ you got two of ’em. Well, I’ll be struck 
dead if that ain’t the limit. Boys, what do you 
think ’bout this outfit being tenderfeet? ” he de¬ 
manded, turning brusquely to his men. 

The cowboys shifted uneasily and fumbled their 
hats. 

“ Boss, I reckon we got to git somebody fer 
thet. What ’bout Pop? Is he daid? ” demanded 
Idaho. 

“ No. He isn’t badly hurt. Shot through the 
shoulder, that’s all,” smiled J. Elfreda. “He is 
in the bunk-house. Mrs. Gray fixed him up and 
Sam has been looking after him. I shall go over 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


137 


again soon and look him over. The lieutenant 
being the worse hurt demanded most of our 
attention, though Pop has not been neglected,” 
Elfreda informed them. 

“ I think the prisoners may need attention by 
this time,” suggested Grace. “ They must be 
hungry.” 

Bindloss growled. 

“ All right. Pete, see that they get something 
to eat. Find out if they are ready to talk and 
let me know.” 

“ Thank you,” said Grace smilingly. 

“ Hippy, you've done me a big service. I don’t 
know what to say,” resumed the rancher. 

“ Don’t say anything. I had to fight to save 
my own skin,” answered Hippy. 

“A good many folks would have hid in the 
cellar,” chuckled Bindloss. “ Catching those two 
rough-necks was the cleverest thing that’s been 
done in Coso Valley, and I reckon the record will 
stand for some time. Feel all right? ” 

“ Sore, but happy, Mr. Bindloss. Tell me what 
happened below. The girls said there was trouble 
with the Number Six herd and that Pop had been 
wounded.” 

Bindloss’s face contracted. 

“ The miserable coyotes! I mean that moun¬ 
tain gang. Yes, they stampeded the herd and 
run them into the foothills. They got some of 


138 


GRACE HARLOWE 


the stock, too, but I don’t know how many head. 
The whole bunch got away before we got down 
there, though they left several snipers as a sort 
of rear guard, and they took pot shots at us when 
the boys tried to get on the trail of the stolen 
stock. We got the stock rounded up, what was 
left of it, and drove it in with another herd. The 
boys are finishing rounding up on that section 
today. I reckon they can get along without me. 
Pete and the bunch are going back later. We’ve 
got two of the thieves here, anyway, and they 
are going to jail when we get ready to turn them 
over. I reckon they are going to talk some first, 
though.” 

“ Can’t your men trail the rustlers? ” asked 
Miss Briggs. 

“ Not far. You don’t know these mountains. 
They could hide up a bunch of cattle for months 
and no one could find them unless he just hap¬ 
pened to stumble onto the hiding place. The best 
we can do is to find out who the boss of that 
thieving outfit is and shoot him up. I reckon 
that’s what’s going to be did, too. By the way, 
where’s your fat friend, Stacy? It’s a wonder he 
isn’t around with some suggestions to offer.” 

The Overlanders looked at each other with 
growing concern in their faces. 

“ St—acy! ” exclaimed Nora. 

“Mercy! With all the excitement we have 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


139 


forgotten all about that young man,” spoke up 
Emma. “Why, he didn’t return with us last 
night, did he? ” 

“ He is all right. Don’t worry. You will find 
him with the punchers rounding up steers and 
howling like an Indian,” soothed Lieutenant 
Wingate. 

Bindloss strode to the door and shouted 
“Pete! ” Two-gun came running. 

“ Whar’s Brown, Stacy Brown? ” 

“I — I thought he was heah. Ain’t he? ” 

“ No. Was he with the men rounding up this 
morning? ” 

Pete shook his head and a troubled look crept 
into his face. 

“ When did you last see him? ” 

“ Le’ me see. It was last night jest before we 
got er call to come up heah. He was ridin’ up 
towards the foothills on the east side, I reckon 
to see what the boys was doin’ up thet way. As 
I recommember thar warn’t any of the boys on 
thet side jest then.” 

“ You are certain that he isn’t with the outfit? ” 
urged Bindloss. 

“ Daid shore, Boss.” 

“ Then where is he? ” demanded the rancher 
with a rising inflection in his voice. 

Two-gun Pete shook his head and ran his 
fingers through his hair. 


140 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ I reckon somethin’ has happened to thet 
feller,” he observed solemnly. 

Tom Gray ran to the door and shouted for 
Jim-Sam. 

“We will start the guides out at once. Some¬ 
thing has gone wrong with Chunky, that’s certain, 
but if anyone can find him Jim-Sam can,” he said. 

“ I’ll send Pete and a couple of the others with 
them,” announced the rancher, who was more dis¬ 
turbed than he cared to have the Overland Riders 
see. “Pete! You know what to do. Get the 
boy, that’s all.” 

Jim-Sam were entering the ranch-house, when 
Idaho burst in, thrusting the guides aside at the 
door. 

“ Boss! They’ve gone! ” yelled Idaho. 

“Gone? Who’s gone?” 

“ The critters thet the Dude caught last night. 
They’ve got clean away. Somebody sawed a hole 
in the back of the stable and got ’em out! ” 

“ Gosh a-mighty! ” gasped Bindloss. “ I ought 
to have done what I wanted to do and shot ’em 
both. But I’ll do it yet! I’ll do it yet! ” he 
raged, stalking from the ranch-house on his way 
to the scene of the escape. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


141 


CHAPTER XIV 

THE LOST TRAIL 

44 T AM going back to the round-up, then 
I over to see Malcolm Hornby/’ announced 
A Joe Bindloss after returning from the 
stable, where he had gone to see for himself how 
the prisoners had escaped. “ I hate the critter, 
but if we stock owners don’t get together and 
organize to wipe out these thieves we shan’t have 
any stock left by the end of the season.” 

“ I’ll go with you,” offered Tom Gray. 

“ Sure, if you like. Pete, you and Idaho are to 
ride with us, leaving the rest here to protect the 
ranch. We mustn’t leave the place alone again, 
but there’s got to be some better protecting than 
there was last night,” warned Bindloss. “ I’ll bet 
every steer on my ranch that if Lieutenant Win¬ 
gate had been on his feet they wouldn’t have got 
away — alive! ” 

“ Tom, I am going, too,” announced Grace. 

“ Rough riding, girlie,” reminded Tom. 

“ Yes, I know. But I don’t mind. Elfreda will 
remain with Hippy who will be all right if some- 


142 


GRACE HARLOWE 


one doesn’t fire more bullets into him. She and 
Nora may be trusted to take good care of him. 
Perhaps Emma would like to go, too, especially 
if that big cowboy Pete is to accompany us,” 
added Grace laughingly. 

“Come along. You won’t be satisfied unless 
you do,” agreed Tom. “ I will speak to Bindloss 
about it.” 

Grace said that there was no need to do that, 
and suggested further that she thought she might 
be of some assistance to the searchers, but the 
Overland girl did not explain what she meant by 
her last remark, nor did Tom think twice about it. 
His mind was troubled. 

Emma answered the question of her joining the 
party before it was asked by announcing that she 
was going to ride with Two-gun Pete and Mr. 
Bindloss. 

Arrangements were quickly made and after the 
situation had been explained to Lieutenant Win¬ 
gate, Nora and Elfreda, the rancher and his party 
mounted their ponies, leaving Sierra in charge of 
the ranch with another cowboy and Sam Conifer 
to assist him. 

“ Do as well as ye did last night when ye let 
them fellers git away an’ ye prob’bly’ll git yer 
fool haid shot off,” warned Sam as Jim swung 
into his saddle. 

“ That’s all right so long as we leave another 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


143 

wuss fool heah at the ranch,” gave back Jim, and 
the party galloped away. 

It was a hard ride, especially for Emma and 
Grace, but both girls stood up under it remark¬ 
ably well. Only one stop was made and that was 
at a spring to water the ponies, after which the 
journey was resumed. The rancher and his party 
reached their destination about the middle of the 
afternoon, where the same scenes were being en¬ 
acted as on the previous day. Cattle were milling 
and bawling, and above the roar came the calls 
of the cowpunchers, clear and distinct. 

The herd engaged in the milling was much 
smaller than before because so many head had 
been cut out and sent to graze at another place, 
there to be guarded by men who would see to it 
that they neither got away nor were stolen, for 
these cattle soon were to be driven to market. 

At Bindloss’s direction, the men of the party 
separated and rode out to question the cowmen 
about Stacy, and after every man there had been 
interviewed, the searchers returned to the knoll 
where the girls were awaiting them. 

“ He hasn’t been here since last night,” Tom 
informed them. “ The last seen of him was when 
he was riding up towards that knoll yonder where 
you see the red bushes. Whether or not he came 
back, no one seems to know.” 

“ Then he possibly rode into the mountains and 


144 


GRACE HARLOWE 


got lost,” suggested Emma. “ That would be just 
like Stacy.” 

“ I wish I might believe that it was nothing 
worse,” answered Grace. “ What is your idea, Mr. 
Bindloss? ” 

“ That's a fair question, and I'll give you a 
fair answer. It is my hunch that the bunch that 
attacked the ranch is concerned in this case too. 
I’m going over to see Hornby, and you folks can 
either wait here for me or return to the ranch.” 

Grace asked permission to accompany him, 
which was rather begrudgingly granted, she 
thought. Emma elected to stay and watch the 
herding, and more especially to watch Two-gun 
Pete's antics with his mustang and tell him he was 
the finest horseman in the world. Emma had 
told that same thing to nearly every one of Old 
Joe Bindloss’s punchers, and some day it was des¬ 
tined to result in a lively man-to-man fight. 

The ride to Hornby's ranch occupied less than 
an hour, and Grace observed that Bindloss hailed 
the log cabin where Hornby lived, while still some 
little distance away. Judy answered the call and 
looked her amazement when she saw who the 
callers were. 

“ Pap's got an awful grouch on today. You'd 
better light out of here hot-foot, Pap Bindloss ” 

“Judy, I’m going to see your father. Where 
may I find him? ” 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


145 


“ I reckon right heah! What do ye want?” 
The voice belonged to Malcolm Hornby. 

Grace observed the man with keen interest. 
Hornby was short and wiry, his eyes keen, but 
revealing a vicious temper, while his face, prob¬ 
ably from exposure to the open, was like wrinkled 
parchment. Yet he was not an old man, perhaps 
not more than fifty, with a quick, nervous manner 
that made one feel he would be a dangerous 
opponent in a fight. 

“ I want to talk with you, Hornby. Can we 
talk in private? ” asked Bindloss. “ I want 
to talk with you about two things. The first is 
about a young friend of mine named Stacy Brown 
who disappeared from the round-up last night, 
pony and all. I want your judgment, too. You 
know these hills better than I do.” 

“ I don't know nothin' 'bout it. Why do ye 
come heah? Ye don't think I stole him, do ye? ” 
The question was put with savage emphasis. 

“ Don't be foolish, Hornby. I need your advice, 
for I'm plumb locoed on this business,'' urged the 
rancher. 

“ Is that all ye got to say? ” 

“No. I have something else to say. Hornby, 
we're neighbors, not very good ones, but we’re 
neighbors just the same, and neighbors should 
stand together. I suppose the rustlers have been 
at your herd as well as mine.” 

10 - Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


146 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“I reckon if they keeps on I won’t have a 
steer on four feet left,” growled Hornby. 

“ Then will you join in with me, turn your men 
over and make a big drive with me to rid this 
part of the country of all those critters? ” 

“ I reckon you an’ me couldn’t hitch up fer 
anything. We’d be for shoo tin’ each other up 
’fore we’d got out of the valley. You’ve got a 
rotten temper, an’ when I’m riled up I ain’t no 
good company either. Who be these folks that 
ye say is yer friends? ” 

“ They are my friends, and that’s all that need 
be said,” retorted Bindloss with some heat, for 
he did not like the tone nor the insinuation in 
Hornby’s reply. 

While the men were talking, Grace had dis¬ 
mounted and she and Judy had strolled away and 
engaged in earnest conversation, during which 
Grace told her all that had happened at the Circle 
0 ranch. What Grace especially wanted to con¬ 
vey was that, knowing the mountains as she did, 
Judy might be able to assist them in finding out 
what had happened to Stacy. Judy shook her 
head saying that she couldn’t. Grace closed the 
subject instantly and walked back to Bindloss. 

“ Man! ” cried the owner of the Circle O. “ The 
ruffians not only tried to steal the ponies right 
out of my corral, but they shot my place all up 
and hit my friend, Lieutenant Wingate. He 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


14? 


caught two of them and shot some others, I 
reckon, but the two got away later on with the 
assistance of their friends. I’ve reached my limit, 
Hornby. The next thing I know I’ll be killing 
somebody.” 

“ Providin’ they don’t git ye first,” leered 
Hornby. “ I said ye had a rotten temper, and 
ye’ve proved it. Nope, Joe, you an’ me can’t 
hitch up nohow. I’ll run my own shebang and 
I reckon ye can do the same with yours or quit. 
I don’t give a dad-blasted rap which ye do. And 
as fer thet Lootenant friend of yours, tell him 
he’d better watch out and not git too handy 
with thet gun o’ hissen, fer thar’s some rough 
fellers in these mountains thet’d make hash of 
him instanter if ever they sot eyes on him. 
This ain’t no place for dudes, Joe Bindloss, an’ 
ye knows it as well as I do. Thet’s all I got to 
say to ye.” 

Malcolm Hornby turned on his heel and strode 
into the house, ordering Judy to follow him. 
Judy, with lowered eyes, followed obediently 
without another word to Grace. 

“ How strangely that girl acts today, Mr. Bind¬ 
loss,” wondered Grace as she mounted her mus¬ 
tang and trotted away with the rancher. 

“Judy’s all right. The trouble is that old 
Hornby is wearing her down with his ornery 
temper until she is ’bout ready to bust out. I 


148 


GRACE HARLOWE 


hope she doesn't, because if she does it'll be a bad 
day for Pap." 

“ Has she no mother? " 

“ Mother died when she was a kid. That was 
'bout the time I lost my wife. But I don't alto¬ 
gether understand what's got into Judy. She's 
acting mighty queer." 

Grace nodded. 

“ There's your man Jim up there," said Bind- 
loss, pointing to the foothills where the Overland 
guide was seen working about. At Grace's sug¬ 
gestion they rode to him. “ Find it? " called the 
rancher as he and Grace approached. 

“ I thought as I had, but thar's been so many 
cattle an' so many hosses that it's a lost trail. 
The fellers say that Stacy war seen here’bouts. 
If he's smart he’s left some sort o' trail, but I’ll 
be shot if I kin find it." 

“ He would not think of that," answered Grace. 

The pair rode on into the valley, both silent 
and thoughtful, and for the rest of the afternoon 
watched the work of rounding up. Just before 
dark Grace joined by Emma rode over to the foot¬ 
hills to see what Jim was accomplishing. He was 
now nowhere to be seen. Though Emma wanted 
to ride up farther into the hills, Grace decided that 
it would not be prudent, for night was coming on. 

They ate their supper with cowboys beside a 
little campfire, and shortly after that started 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 149 

homeward, accompanied by Mr. Bindloss and two 
of the men. Two-gun Pete was one of the party. 

All were pleased to learn, on their arrival at 
the ranch, that Hippy had been sitting up and 
was coming along. Pop Skinner too, Elfreda said, 
was out of danger. Even the ranch-house had 
improved under the repairs that had been made 
that day. 

Sam Conifer they found pacing about rest¬ 
lessly. He was full of eager questions about Jim, 
and seemed disturbed when they told him that 
his partner probably had found a trail and was 
following it. 

On the following morning, with no tidings of 
the old guide, Sam asked permission to go in 
search of Jim. Permission was readily granted, 
and Sam was soon galloping away. 

Conifer did not return until the late afternoon 
of the next day. He was riding hard when the 
Overlanders discovered him, and reeled in his 
saddle as he rode up to the ranch-house. 

“ Somethin’s happened to Jim! ” he cried. “ I 
found whar it happened, and then I lost the trail. 
They’ve got him! They’ve got him, folks! ” 

“Sam! Sam! You have been hurt!” cried 
Nora. There was blood on Sam Conifer’s face, 
and the left arm hung limp at his side. Before 
they could assist him, Sam essayed to dismount 
and pitched to the ground in a dead faint. 


150 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER XV 

CLEWS THAT WERE LOADED 

I T was found that a bullet had hit the fleshy 
part of the old guide’s left arm, and that 
there was considerable laceration. First aid 
was administered and the patient restored to con¬ 
sciousness. 

“ Quite a hospital we have here, Mr. Bind- 
loss,” observed J. Elfreda after she had done all 
she could for Sam. 

“ A-huh! What made the old fellow faint 
like that? He must be getting old.” 

“ Loss of blood made him faint. So it would 
you. He will shortly be able to tell us how he got 
the wound.” 

“ I’ll talk now. I’m so full of it I’ve got to talk. 
I’m an old idiot! No mistake ’bout that,” rum¬ 
bled Sam. “ I must talk, fer somethin’ has got 
to be did. They’ve got Jim, an’ I reckons they’ve 
got the fat boy, too.” 

“ Take it easy like,” urged the rancher. “ No 
hurry at all. Does he want something to eat? ” 
“ We are preparing something. Pete has killed 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


151 


a chicken and Nora is making broth for him/' 
replied Miss Briggs. 

“ Huh! Reckon you folks think you own this 
ranch, eh? ” demanded the owner, his eyes 
twinkling. 

“We might were we to sue for the damage we 
have sustained here,” retorted Emma snappily. 

“ Oh, ho! I reckon you’re right,” agreed Bind- 
loss. “ What’s on your mind, Conifer? ” 

“ I found the trail! ” 

“ You did? ” cried Tom Gray. 

“Yes, but that ain’t all. It was a fixed trail 
to make the finder reckon that Jim had made it 
hisself so we could foller him. I swallered the 
bait an’ the hook an’ the line too. I fust found 
whar thar’d been a scrimmage, an’ I found Jim’s 
heel marks right thar. Then they disappeared 
jest as if he’d gone up into the air. He’d been 
boosted to the back of a hoss. Ye never seen no 
hoss track so a-mighty plain. Well, I foliered 
right on. Jim wouldn’t have made that mistake. 
He’d jest kinder sneaked. Then I got mine.” 

“ How far into the hills did you get? ” 
interrupted the rancher. 

“ ’Bout half a mile. Wal, as I was sayin’, all 
of a sudden I heard somethin’ like someone had 
stepped on a stick back of some juniper bushes. 
I didn’t like thet sound; I knowed thar was a 
gun behind it, so I jest naturally got ready for 


152 


GRACE HARLOWE 


trouble, but trouble got me first. The feller shot, 
an’ I shot. The only difference was thet he had 
a plain mark to shoot at an’ I didn’t. He hit me 
in the arm, an’ then I shot thet juniper bush so 
full of holes that it won’t make no shade till next 
summer.” 

“ Did — did you hit him? ” questioned Emma 
eagerly. 

“ I hit somethin’ that grunted, but the grunter 
got away from me. I stalked him fer two hour, 
but couldn’t even find his tracks, though I did 
find some blood thar, an’ if he’d a looked he’d 
found a heap sight more blood whar I was. If 
thet feller hit what he shot at thar’s only one man 
in this heah neck of the world thet could do it, 
an’ he’s the feller I’m lookin’ fer. When I find 
him, one or t’other of us ’ll go down an’ stay 
down. Thet’s shore,” threatened Sam grimly. 

“ I don’t understand how Jim could have been 
caught in broad daylight,” wondered Tom. 

“ Thar’s only one way, onless they shot him, 
which I don’t reckon they did, jedging from the 
look of the trail. Folks, they roped him jest like 
they’d rope an old maverick steer. I reckon 
mebby that’s what happened to Stacy.” 

“ Yes. But why, why? ” 

“Ye kin search me. I’ll be all right after I 
gits a few hours’ sleep an’ some chuck; then I’m 
goin’ to hit the trail agin, and I’ll bet ye this 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


153 


trail won’t be loaded. Leastwise, I’ll dodge the 
loaded places.” 

“ Samuel, you will not be hitting any trail just 
yet,” admonished Miss Briggs. “ I think you had 
better stop talking now. Your broth will be 
ready in a few moments, after which you are 
going to sleep.” Elfreda motioned to the others 
to leave, which they did, and half an hour later 
Sam was sleeping soundly. Elfreda thereupon 
went out to the front porch where Bindloss, Tom 
and the others of the Overland party were 
awaiting her. 

Bindloss said they had been discussing the 
situation, and that not only for their sakes, but 
for the sake of his business in the Coso Valley, 
something must be done to check the outlawry 
that had been going on and that was getting 
worse. 

“ Have you appealed to the law? ” asked Miss 
Briggs. 

The rancher laughed, but without mirth. 

“ The sheriff has been after this gang for three 
months, but that’s as far as the law has ever 
got. The law has never caught up with the gang. 
There’s some fellow with a head bossing that 
gang, and they ought to be getting rich judging 
from the stock they’ve stolen from me.” 

“ If you wish to make a drive and try to clean 
them up perhaps we can assist you,” offered Tom. 


154 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ I’ve been thinking of that/' replied Bindloss 
reflectively. “ I don’t reckon, though, that I 
want you folks to get mixed up in it, for some¬ 
body is sure to get hurt,” he added. 

“ It occurs to me that someone already has,” 
observed Miss Briggs wisely. “You must re¬ 
member that, having lost one of our party and 
one guide, we are not wholly disinterested spec¬ 
tators, and should Stacy not get back, we probably 
shall organize a drive on our own hook.” 

“ What are your plans, Bindloss? What have 
you in mind? ” asked Tom Gray. 

“ ’Bout that matter? I can’t do anything till 
we get finished with the round-up. When that’s 
done we’ll turn some of our cowpunchers loose, 
letting Pete lead them, for Pete is a natural leader 
and can shoot, and he knows the mountains better 
than any other fellow on the range. In the mean¬ 
time, if Sam gets fit, we will ask him to scout and 
see if he can find the hang-out of the ruffians. It 
will be a ticklish job, but I suppose it can be done. 
Miss Briggs, when do you think the old man will 
be able to start? ” 

“ He should lay up for a week, but I do not 
believe it will be possible to hold him that 
long,” replied Elfreda. 

“ Leave Stacy all that time without doing any¬ 
thing to help him? ” wailed Nora. 

Grace explained that all was being done that 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 155 

could be done, and that a few days more or less 
probably would be none the worse for the missing 
Overland boy. She said the delay would enable 
them to perfect their plans for the proposed man¬ 
hunt, and that in the meantime the ruffians might 
make a slip and place themselves in the hands of 
the men of Circle O. Bindloss nodded his ap¬ 
proval, and there the matter was left. 

Conifer improved much more rapidly than 
Elfreda had thought possible and two days later 
Hippy, on his feet again, was walking about, limp¬ 
ing ever so little, his head swathed in bandages 
and his face lined and pale. 

“ I’ve been down long enough/’ he told Bind¬ 
loss. “ It is time that I was out and looking for 
that nephew of mine, Chunky Brown. Conifer 
declares that he is going out to-morrow and I’m 
going with him.” 

“You are not,” replied the rancher. “Man, 
it’ll kill you! Conifer wasn’t hit like you and 
he has his right hand as good as ever. There’s 
lots of fight left in the old man yet, and if we 
don’t let him go he will worry himself and the rest 
of us to death. No, Lieutenant, you keep your 
hosses staked down and get lazy for a few days 
more. I promise you there will be plenty of 
excitement and activity for you and the rest of 
us when we start that man hunt.” 

The Overlanders were as emphatic as Bindloss 


156 


GRACE HARLOWE 


had been, and Hippy, much against his will, sub¬ 
mitted to their demand that he stay at the ranch. 
Conifer, too, was ordered by Miss Briggs to defer 
his departure, so that it was the latter part of 
that week before she gave him permission to take 
the trail on the following day. 

That night, however, something occurred to 
change the plans of Bindloss and his guests. 
Two-gun Pete, who had come in late from the 
range, had discovered a man prowling about the 
stable. Pete hailed him and the man ran, where¬ 
upon the cowboy fired six shots at him, but in the 
darkness all his bullets went wild. 

The firing awakened the occupants of the ranch- 
house and the Overland camp, and in a few 
minutes all hands were on the scene, armed and 
ready for whatever might be required of them. 
Guards were thrown out to protect the place from 
a surprise attack. The prowler had disappeared, 
but he had left a plain trail to a point where his 
mustang had been staked down. From there his 
tracks led into the foothills, but the direction he 
took upon entering the hills was no indication of 
his probable destination. 

“ I found something,” shouted Idaho who had 
just come around the corner of the corral with his 
lantern and passed down at the rear of the stable. 
The Overlanders and Bindloss found him carrying 
a large basket at arm's length. Idaho plainly was 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


157 


suspicious of that basket, and he proposed to take 
no chances with it. For all he knew it might be 
full of rattlers. 

No one made a move to investigate the basket’s 
contents as Idaho put it down on the ground and 
backed away. 

“ Perhaps the man went away in such haste he 
forgot his luncheon,” suggested Emma whimsi¬ 
cally, which caused a laugh and relieved the 
tension somewhat. 

“ You are a lot of tenderfeet,” averred Hippy, 
limping over and peering down at the basket. 
He gave it a gentle shake. 

“Oh, Hippy darlin’! Be careful,” begged 
Nora. 

“ Be quiet! There is something alive in here,” 
warned Lieutenant Wingate, giving the basket 
another shake, whereupon his companions dis¬ 
tinctly heard familiar sounds coming from it. 

“ Birds! Well, what do you folks know about 
that? Someone has made us a present of a bas¬ 
ket of birds, perhaps blackbirds with which to 
make a pie,” chortled Hippy. 

The basket cover was secured with a piece of 
wire, which the Overlander unwound and cau¬ 
tiously peered within while Tom Gray held a 
lantern to enable Hippy to see. He thrust a hand 
in and brought out a bird, holding it up for the 
others to look at. 


158 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ Bindloss, what do you think of our present? ” 
he cried jovially. 

“Well, I’ll be shot!” exclaimed the rancher. 
“ What fool is carrying ’round a basket of birds? ” 
The rancher laughed uproariously. 

Tom Gray took one look at the bird and uttered 
an exclamation under his breath, then after 
cautiously peering into the basket, being careful 
that none of the other birds there made its escape, 
he got up and faced his companions with a puzzled 
expression in his eyes. 

At this instant, Grace and Elfreda also dis¬ 
covered what both Tom and Hippy already knew. 

“ A carrier pigeon! ” exclaimed Miss Briggs 
wonderingly. “ Are they all carriers? ” 

“ All carriers, and fully equipped for business,” 
Tom informed them. “ Are we back in France 
in the war? ” 

Hippy turned the basket about so that the light 
would shine on the other side of it, and made a 
fresh discovery, more important, even, than the 
discovery of the carrier pigeons. They heard him 
utter an exclamation and saw him remove some¬ 
thing that was hanging to the handle and tied to 
it with a leather thong. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


159 


CHAPTER XVI 

THE CARRIER PIGEONS' FLIGHT 

LETTER! ” cried Emma. “ Isn't this 
perfectly romantic? " 



X “ if it is a letter, it's a crumby 

looking one," observed Hippy. “ Tom, hold that 
lantern so I can see." 

The Overlanders crowded up closer, with Bind- 
loss in the forefront, the cowpunchers peering over 
their heads and shoulders, as Hippy began to un¬ 
fold a sheet that had once been wrapping paper. 
One keen look at it and Lieutenant Wingate 
uttered a yell and began hopping up and down 
with most of his weight on one foot. 

“ Chunky! It's from Chunky," he cried. 

“ Read it! This suspense is killing me," wailed 
Emma. 

“ It is addressed to the Overlanders and to Joe 
Bindloss. He spells it ‘ Bindlass,' and — " 

“ Never mind the spelling. Read it!" urged 
Miss Briggs. 

“ And it reads as follows," continued Hippy. 

“ ‘ Dear Folks: You'll be surprised to hear from 


160 


GRACE HARLOWE 


me, and more so to hear that I’m in Dutch. I’m 
in the hands of a gang of ruffians — gentlemen — ’ 
The word ruffians has been crossed out and the 
word gentlemen added,” explained Hippy. 

“ You are the most aggravating person I ever 
knew. Will you please read that letter or let me 
do it for you? ” begged Miss Briggs. 

“ ‘ They caught me with a rope when I wasn’t 
looking, down by the round-up, and I’ve stayed 
caught. They know that I’m valuable and they 
want a price for me,’ ” continued Hippy, reading 
Stacy’s scrawl with considerable difficulty. “ ‘ If 
they don’t get it they propose to throw me off the 
mountain into the red gulch just back of the 
cabin that I’m in. They want five hundred 
dollars for me and you’re to send it by the birds 
that they are going to send with this letter. Put 
only one bill on each bird’s leg because they’re 
union birds and won’t carry a man-sized load. 
I don’t know how or where they got the birds, 
but they’ve got ’em. I know because I’ve seen 
’em. When they get the money they are going to 
take me to the foothills and kick me out, but if 
they don’t get it I’m to go out the way I told 
you. Please hurry. I haven’t had a square meal 
since I got tangled up with that fellow’s rope, 
but the scenery certainly is fine up here. Help! 
Help! Help! 


(Signed) ‘ Lovingly, Stacy.’ ” 



“ It’s from Chunky! ” 
161 

■Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


11 









































































































































































































































































162 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ ‘ P. S. If you try to find me they say they will 
throw me over anyway. If you haven’t big 
enough bills, for the love of heaven keep on send¬ 
ing small ones so long as the birds hold out, but 
send them! ’ 

“ ‘ P. P. S. The beans they are feeding me on up 
here are awful, but the coffee is worse. S. B. ’ 

“ ‘ P. P. P. S. They say they are going to send 
this by rural free delivery, but if it’s as slow as it 
is back home I won’t need any help by the time it 
reaches you. For heaven sake, feed the birds and 
give them plenty of pepper, so they’ll have pep 
and hustle — ’ ” 

The message broke off suddenly as if the writer 
had been interrupted, at least that was the way 
the Overlanders construed it. 

“ Gosh a-mighty! If that ain’t the limit! ” 
exclaimed Bindloss. “ How can those birds carry 
money or anything else, and how will they get 
back where the robbers want them to go? ” 

Tom Gray explained that carrier pigeons carried 
messages in little oiled paper tubes such as these 
birds had on their legs, and that when released 
they got their direction quickly and flew straight 
back to their cotes. 

“ I know! I know,” exclaimed Bindloss. “ A 
fellow over at Carrago had a flock of ’em, but the 
government took ’em over after the war started. 
They paid him five dollars a head for the birds, 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


163 


then, after the war, what was left of ’em he bought 
back from the government at twenty-five cents 
a head.” 

“ There’s our clue,” interrupted Hippy. 
“ Should we fail otherwise we can find out who 
the pigeon man is. But I don’t reckon we shall 
need to do that. Folks, what is your idea? ” 

“ I shouldn’t be in favor of paying five hundred 
dollars for Stacy,” objected Emma. “ If they 
keep him long enough to get really acquainted 
with him they will be glad to take a bargain- 
counter price for him.” 

Bindloss suggested that they go into the house, 
and Tom asked him to invite Idaho and Pete to 
go in with them, which was done. Sam Conifer 
met them on the porch, and his first question was 
whether or not they had heard from Jim. The 
situation was quickly explained to him. When 
informed that there was no news from the missing 
Jim, the guide’s whiskers drooped. 

“ I reckon Jim’s thar, but they wouldn’t let the 
boy writ ’bout it,” he exclaimed, his whiskers 
suddenly bristling as of old. “I’ll git ’em! 
They’ve played a card into my hands now! ” he 
raged. “ I’ll follow ’em now.” 

“ Are you going to fly, Sam? ” questioned 
Emma. “That is the only way I know of to 
follow birds.” 

It was a poser. Two-gun Pete asked if he 


164 


GRACE HARLOWE 


might make a suggestion. His suggestion was 
that they liberate a bird and watch its direction, 
then follow out that direction until they finally 
found the hiding place of the rustlers. 

“ Peter, you sure have brains,” complimented 
Hippy. 

“ I love a man with brains,” bubbled Emma, 
amid smiles and nods, all of which embarrassed 
Two-gun very much. 

“ That’s the idea,” cried Tom. “ Has anyone 
additional suggestions to make? ” 

“ I have,” answered Misss Briggs. “ Peter has 
given us something to work from, and all it needs 
is elaboration. See what you think of this. Give 
a bird five dollars and liberate him just after day¬ 
light, as they used to do in France. Watch the 
course he takes, then let our men take up positions 
on that course as nearly in line with the bird’s 
flight as possible, lining up about a mile apart. 
At a certain hour we will free a second bird, also 
with a five-dollar bill. One of our men on the 
lookout will surely see it. The ruffians may be a 
long way from here, but so long as the bird’s 
course can be kept in sight, its home roost can 
be found.” 

“ Good generalship,” agreed Tom, nodding. 

“ Right you are,” approved Bindloss. “ But 
five dollars! I don’t like to give them robbers 
even five cents.” 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


165 


“ Sam, do you feel equal to going with us? ” 
asked Grace, turning to the old guide. 

“ I’m goin’, an’ I ain’t cornin’ back till I gits 
Jim,” he answered grimly. 

“ Five dollars sent out with each bird won’t 
break us. That will make sixty dollars if we 
send out the entire dozen, which is a pretty high 
price to pay for Chunky,” declared Emma. 

The Overlanders rebuked her, and after further 
discussion it was decided to liberate the first bird 
at daybreak and a second bird at noon. As soon 
as the first carrier gave them the direction, the 
men were to proceed singly into the hills, going 
with as much secrecy and caution as possible, take 
up positions and await the noon bird. 

Miss Briggs suggested that the men arrange to 
get in touch with each other at the end of the first 
hour following the passage of each bird, and that 
the first to discover the hiding place of the rustlers 
was to go back and wait for his companions so 
that they might attack in force. 

“ Gosh a-mighty! ” cried Joe Bindloss. “ Is 
there anything that you folks can’t do? ” 

“ One bird every two hours after twelve and 
up to four, then send all but two between that 
and six,” suggested Hippy. “ Better keep two 
over. Send a message with the last bird that 
the last two birds of the lot will be liberated in 
the morning, as soon as the rest of the money can 


166 


GRACE HARLOWE 


be procured. Now who is going? I, for one, am 
.going out.” 

Every person present volunteered, but it was 
finally settled that Sam, Pete, Idaho, Tom Gray 
and Hippy should go. Sam insisted on taking the 
lead, and the position was assigned to him. Bind- 
loss and some of his men were to remain at the 
ranch-house to guard against a possible raid. 

The party soon thereafter turned in for what 
rest they could get, but first the birds were put 
in a larger basket so that they might be more 
comfortable and rest up for the journey ahead of 
them. 

The ranch-house inhabitants were astir before 
daylight next morning. Food was given to the 
birds as soon as day dawned, and a tube packed 
with a five-dollar bill and a brief message that 
the money would be sent along as rapidly as 
possible was attached to a pigeon’s leg. 

The sun was rising when Tom Gray brought 
out the first pigeon that was to make the flight. 

“ The dove of peace! What? ” chuckled Tom, 
tossing the bird into the air. 

The carrier pigeon fluttered about with rapidly 
beating wings for a few seconds, then began 
circling upwards, taking wider and wider circles 
as it rose, every eye eagerly fixed on it. The 
Overlanders had thought that its direction would 
be east, but suddenly the bird straightened out, 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


167 


taking a course a little south of west, heading for 
the Coso Mountains. 

“ Everyone watch him! ” urged Tom. 

Grace and Elfreda were following the flight with 
their glasses, but the keen eyes of the ranchers 
needed no such aid, and readily followed the 
flight until the bird had disappeared over a 
mountain. 

“I got it!” shouted Sam. 

“ So hev I,” announced Pete. “ Got the land¬ 
marks daid to rights. Be ye ready, Sam? ” 

Sam was, and after an uneasy half hour’s wait 
he rode off to the south, jogging along slowly. 
He was followed after an interval by Lieutenant 
Wingate, and following him were Tom Gray, Two- 
gun Pete and Idaho in the order named. Each 
man knew that he might expect to be shot from 
ambush, but the opportunity to meet up with the 
mountain ruffians outweighed all other con¬ 
siderations. 

In a short time all were out of sight, and the 
party left at the ranch settled down to wait for 
the hour when they were to liberate another 
pigeon, and at the same time to listen with strain¬ 
ing ears for the sound of firing in the hills, which 
each one momentarily expected to hear. 


168 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER XVII 

STACY DECIDES TO LEAVE 

HE night that Stacy Brown was roped 



from his mustang he was put to sleep 


JL w ith a whack applied to his head from 
the butt of a revolver. When he awakened he 
found himself lashed to the back of a pony, travel¬ 
ing over a rough mountain trail. The pony was 
being led and there were men ahead arid men to 
the rear. The fat boy could hear them speak 
at intervals. 

It did not seem to be a long journey, and the 
party finally pulled up before a cabin that Stacy 
observed was well hidden in a narrow rocky pass 
that was approached on three sides by way of a 
steep granite slope, while on the other side, as he 
later learned, a precipitous gorge dropped away 
for hundreds of feet. 

The Overland boy was removed from the horse 
and carried to a lean-to against the rear of the 
cabin in which horse equipment and weapons 
were stored. He was unceremoniously dumped 
into this place and left to his own reflections. For 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


169 


some time he heard men talking in the cabin, 
then silence settled over the place. It was near 
noon of the following day before food was brought 
to him and his hands were freed. After eating 
he was subjected to a grilling examination as to 
who he was and what his party were doing in the 
Coso Valley, and when he answered in his char¬ 
acteristic independent way one of the ruffians 
struck him a blow in the face that once more 
put the Overland boy to sleep. 

At least twice each night thereafter he was 
asked the same questions, and each time the 
interview ended in a blow or a violent kick until 
Chunky was sore all over. 

Occasionally he was permitted to sit or lie out¬ 
doors, and at such times Stacy used his eyes and 
ears to the best advantage. However, there was 
little for him to see except the scenery that he 
mentioned in his letter. 

His captors were away most of the time, though 
ordinarily there was one man prowling about, 
principally engaged in surveying the surrounding 
mountains from a vantage point on a rock. Then 
one evening came the order to Stacy to write the 
letter to the Overland party. He obeyed eagerly, 
for he was anxious to get away at any price — so 
long as the price was paid by someone other than 
himself. Stacy had slight hopes, though, that 
his companions would give so great a ransom. 


170 


GRACE HARLOWE 


It was early in the evening of the following 
night when he heard more than the usual number 
of voices in the cabin. Voices now and then 
were pitched high, sometimes in anger. Stacy 
cautiously rolled close to the door communicating 
with the cabin and lay listening. His hopes rose 
high when he learned that some of the birds had 
returned with money. Two of the ruffians had 
come in with tidings that four birds were still 
missing, which revealed to Stacy the fact that 
the pigeons were not kept at the cabin. The one, 
however, which carried the answer to the demand 
of the rustlers, and that most concerned the men, 
had just come in, and its message was a subject of 
discussion. One ruffian was of the opinion that 
either Bindloss or the Overlanders were trying to 
play a sharp trick on them and search out their 
hiding place. He was laughed at. 

“ How kin anybody foiler er bird flyin’ high? ” 
demanded another, whereat the ruffians laughed 
more uproariously than before. The feel of the 
money that the pigeons had brought, outweighed 
their caution. This was easy money, and there 
was more of it coming. 

“ We’ll git all we kin fer this feller, an’ then 
make a price on t’other feller’s haid, an’ we’ll make 
er clean-up,” chuckled another. “ It ain’t the 
first time thet them birds has done us a good turn, 
but never jest in this heah way.” 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


171 


At the mention of another captive on whose 
head a price was to be set, the fat boy pricked 
up his ears. He wondered whom else the ruffians 
had captured, and where the other captive was 
being held. This was interesting, but what 
followed was more so. 

From the talk Stacy overheard he learned that, 
after the ruffians had gotten all the money they 
could out of the Overlanders, the prisoners were 
to be disposed of. 

“They knows too much to let ’em git away, 
especially thet fat feller. He’s too fresh anyway,” 
averred one. 

“ Best way is to take ’em out on a dark night, 
turn ’em ’round a few times and head ’em fer the 
canyon, an’ tell ’em to git home a-whooping. 
Ain’t no need fer us to do nothing more’n thet. 
They’ll do the rest,” advised another. 

“ Thet’s the ticket, Charlie! ” complimented 
another. “We’ll make ’em walk the plank, an’ 
the buzzards ’ll do the rest.” The ruffians roared. 
It would be great sport and it would make dis¬ 
posal of their captives a most simple matter. 

Stacy Brown did not laugh. Instead, he 
swallowed hard, and a heavy frown wrinkled his 
forehead. 

“That’s what I call a low-down trick,” he 
muttered. “ Going to get all the money they can 
for me and the other fellow and then send us 


172 


GRACE HARLOWE 


out to walk on air. Wow! Stacy Brown, I reckon 
it’s time for you to leave.” He gazed out through 
the open door of the lean-to and contemplated 
the possibility of rolling out and trying to escape. 
That did not seem to be feasible, so he pondered, 
strained cautiously at the ropes with which he was 
tied, and decided that he must think of some¬ 
thing else. 

“ If I could get hold of a hunting knife I might 
manage it,” he thought, but did not recall having 
seen any such thing among the assortment of 
equipment in the lean-to. Then an idea occurred 
to him. 

“ The axe! ” exclaimed the fat boy, and in¬ 
stantly began rolling towards the door, just out¬ 
side of which he had seen an axe that very day. 
He found the axe and after several failures Stacy 
succeeded in getting it between his knees blade 
up, and began sawing at the rope that bound his 
wrists. The rope soon fell apart. Stacy could 
scarcely repress a howl of delight. It was now 
the work of only a moment to free his legs, and 
the Overland boy, still clinging to the axe as a 
weapon in case of discovery, began considering 
his next move. He knew about where the ruf¬ 
fians’ ponies were tethered, because he had heard 
them stamping many times. 

“ Now, if I had a gun I’d be — Sure I have! ” 
He felt along the rear wall of the lean-to, where 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


173 


among saddles and bridles hung holsters with 
weapons in them, and ammunition belts, and 
rifles of quite modern pattern hanging from nails 
in the wall. 

The fat boy quickly helped himself to two 
revolvers and a rifle, each of which he found 
loaded. That gave him fresh courage. He might 
be surprised, but it was his idea that the other 
fellow might be more so. Stacy, armed and eager, 
crept from the lean-to and picked his way 
cautiously towards the spot at the base of the 
granite slope where he hoped to find the rustlers’ 
horses tethered. They were not there, but he 
found them about a hundred yards to the left, 
all saddled and bridled, ready for instant use in 
case of need. 

There appeared to be no one on guard, but, 
though he did not know it, two men were sta¬ 
tioned a short distance from the cabin on the 
Coso Valley side of the mountain hiding place. 
Fortunately for him, the fat boy was on the other 
side. 

Stacy selected a mount, and, finding a rifle in 
the saddle boot, he threw away the one he had 
taken from the lean-to. 

“ I wish I dared to shoot up that place,” he 
muttered, gazing off towards the cabin which he 
could not now see. “ I’ll come back and do it.” 

Stacy led the mustang along carefully for a 


174 


GRACE HARLOWE 


while, taking what he believed to be an easterly 
course, and getting his bearings from the stars so 
that he might not travel in a circle and bring up 
at his starting point. 

There appearing to be no pursuit, the boy finally 
mounted and rode away with increasing speed 
and rising spirits. He continued on until towards 
daylight when he found himself descending into 
w T hat he believed to be foothills, but which proved 
to be grazing grounds in the mountains. They 
were of vast extent, covering many acres, and over 
this mesa Stacy wandered for hours trying to find 
a way out. He was hungry, ravenously so now, 
and a search of the saddle-bags revealed not even 
a biscuit. 

Noon came and, well-nigh famished, he turned 
the mustang into the chaparral determined to 
find a new trail. The boy had gone in but a short 
distance when he began to sniff the air. Even the 
mustang lifted its head and snorted. 

“If that isn’t food smoke I never smelled any. 
Stacy Brown, follow your nose, for your nose 
knows. Gid-ap, you lazy lout! ” he cried. 

Perhaps the pony really knew, for it pricked 
up its ears with new interest and seemed eager 
to go on, and a few moments later Stacy dis¬ 
covered a shack ahead. The smoke odor was 
by now quite strong. 

The boy approached the shack with caution, 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


175 


and rode twice around it before deciding to hail. 
When he finally did so there was no answer, so 
he dismounted and entered. 

What he had come upon was a chuck-house 
where mountain herders got their meals. 

That a meal had quite recently been eaten there 
was evidenced by the soiled dishes still on the 
table, and the food that was simmering in frying 
pans on the stove. 

“ Eats! I don’t know who it belongs to, but 
I know when I am hungry,” cried Stacy, helping 
himself to several slices of bacon from a frying 
pan and eating them out of his hand. There was 
bread, too, and coffee in the pots. Stacy tasted 
the coffee and made a wry face. 

“Worse than the rustlers made,” he com¬ 
plained. 

Had the Overland Rider not been so fully occu¬ 
pied with satisfying his hunger, he probably would 
have been more observant. As it was he did not 
see a horseman ride up, dismount and peer into 
the shack. Nor did he see the fellow’s expression 
when he looked over Stacy’s mount. The new¬ 
comer rode away quietly to a distance and then 
put his pony to a run. 

Half an hour later while the boy was still 
eating, and just as he was about to place a bis¬ 
cuit in his mouth, a voice out of the silence 
arrested him. 


176 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ Put up yer hands, young feller! I’ve got ye 
covered/’ warned the voice. 

The hand that held the biscuit was already 
raised to a level with his mouth, and the other 
promptly went above his head. 

“ Turn around, an’ let’s git a look at ye! ” 

Stacy turned and found himself facing a weapon 
in the hands of a man at the door. Just to the 
rear of the man with the gun were half a dozen 
others. 

“ Tough-lookin’ critter, all right. Who be ye? ” 
demanded the hold-up man. 

“ Name’s Brown,” answered the fat boy, trans¬ 
ferring the biscuit to his mouth and beginning 
to chew on it. 

“ Whar’d ye git that cayuse? ” 

“ Maybe I stole him,” answered Chunky 
thickly, for the biscuit was large. “ What dif¬ 
ference does it make to you where I got him? ” 

“ It may make a lot of difference to ye, young 
feller. I reckon mebby ye knows thet thet critter 
belongs to the Diamond Bar ranch, an’ thet he 
was stole from thar three days ago. Turn round 
while I relieve ye of some of thet hardware.” 

Stacy ceased chewing and stood with arms up¬ 
lifted while his weapons and cartridge belt were 
being removed, following which he was roughly 
yanked around facing his captors. 

“ You be careful, you rough-necks. You’ll find 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


177 


out that I'm a bad man when I get riled/' warned 
Chunky boastfully. 

“ I reckon ye be all of thet. Jest now ye ain’t, 
an' 'fore long mebby ye won’t be nothin' 'tall. 
Yer under arrest! " announced the spokesman. 

“ Wha—at for? " gasped the Overland boy, his 
face losing some of its color. 

“ Horse stealin'! Thet's all! " 

A strong hand was fastened on Stacy's collar 
and he was roughly jerked out of the cabin and 
thrown on the pony that he was accused of having 
rustled. It began to dawn on Stacy Brown that 
he was in a serious predicament. 


12 - Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


178 


GRACE HAREOWE 


CHAPTER XVIII 


TROUBLE AT RED GULCH 

HE second bird was liberated at noon, 



and was quickly on its way, observed 


-sa- eagerly by the girls of the Overland unit 
and their companions of the Circle O ranch. The 
pigeon did not seem to deviate a hair’s breadth 
from the line followed by the first bird. 

“ Isn’t it wonderful to be a bird and go where 
the wind listeth? ” murmured Emma Dean. 

“ It would be, but they don’t,” answered Miss 
Briggs laughingly. “ Wind is the pigeon’s enemy 
and unless it is with them they have to fight it, 
and in doing so are frequently lost. I happen 
to know some things about carrier pigeons, for 
I have seen them work and heard much about 
them in France. Once a pigeon becomes lost and 
has to come down, he loses his ambition, or his 
confidence, or something — at least something 
seems to have gone out of him, and, even if he 
returns at all, he seldom can be depended upon 
to make another flight. I venture to say that 
not all the birds we are sending out will reach 
their loft.” 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


179 


“ So long as the boys see the majority of them 
we do not care,” said Nora. “ Oh, I hope they 
do.” 

The boys did — that is, Hippy, Sam and Pete 
saw the second bird going over and watched it 
until it flew out of sight. Now they knew that 
they were on the right trail. The five o’clock bird 
was the last one seen by any of the men, and it 
was Lieutenant Wingate who discovered it. The 
bird was flying so low that it seemed to be skim¬ 
ming the tops of the slender mountain pines. 
Observing this Hippy hurried on to join Sam 
Conifer, whom he found in about half an hour. 

“ Go easy from now on, Sam,” he cautioned. 

“You know somethin’? ” demanded the guide. 

“ The bird that just went over was flying very 
low. That indicates that he has located his cote 
and is reaching for it. I do not believe it can 
be more than a mile or two away from here. 
Shall I take the lead now? ” 

“ No! I’ll take it myself,” snapped the guide. 
Sam was irritable, but Hippy laid it to the guide’s 
wound and his weakened condition. As a matter 
of fact it was neither. Sam’s nerves were on edge 
and his rheumatic fingers were “ crinkling,” for he 
could almost feel the feel of a gun in his right 
hand. 

“ Very well. I shall keep up close to you, just 
the same,” announced Hippy. “ If you come 


180 


GRACE HARLOWE 


upon something you’ll need assistance. The men 
at the rear are instructed not to shoot until they 
are positive about what they are shooting at, so 
there is not much danger of their firing at us.” 

Sam answered with a grunt and started on. 
Half an hour later he halted to wait for his com¬ 
panion to come up to him. 

“ What is it? ” whispered Hippy. 

“ I got er whiff o’ smoke. Mebby it’s the 
makin’s o’ a forest fire, an’ mebby ’tain’t. We’ll 
leave the ponies heah an’ go on afoot. Ye better 
wait an’ tell ’em so they don’t blunder on an’ 
spoil the game.” 

The “ game ”! What a game it was, a game 
of life and death, thought Lieutenant Hippy Win¬ 
gate, as he tethered the mustangs at one side of 
the trail and sat down to rest and wait. 

It was about this time that Stacy Brown was 
taking his departure from the cabin of the moun¬ 
tain ruffians, not dreaming that a friend was so 
near at hand. In the meantime Sam had begun 
moving forward slowly, making scarcely a sound, 
so light were his footsteps, the right hand nerv¬ 
ously twitching over the protruding butt of his 
revolver. 

The guide brought up sharply with his whiskers 
standing out at an angle, and listened attentively. 
He had heard a human laugh, and Sam knew 
quite well that it could not be behind him, for 


AT CIRCLE O 'RANCH 181 

his companions were not in a laughing mood that 
evening. He picked his way forward a little 
farther and again halted and listened. 

A shout startled him and his muscles tensed. 
It was a shout of anger, at first sounding as though 
from a distance, then all at once near at hand. 
Stacy Brown’s escape had been discovered, and 
the mountain ruffians were running about in 
search of him, but by this time the boy was some 
distance away. When it was discovered that one 
of the ponies was missing the rage of the rustlers 
knew no restraint, and each was seeking for an 
excuse to place the responsibility on his com¬ 
panions. 

“Somethin’ goin’ on over thar, but I’m dad- 
busted if I knows what it’s all ’bout,” muttered 
Sam. 

Two shots rang out almost as one, and the old 
gunman knew what that meant. Two rustlers 
had fired, but one had been a fraction of a second 
quicker than the other, and one probably was out 
of the fight, for there were no more shots, and 
the voices of the rustlers became more subdued. 

Sam Conifer moved up a little closer. Lieu¬ 
tenant Wingate, too, had heard the shots and was 
growing restless, but dared not leave his position 
until Tom, Two-Gun and Idaho came up. 

By this time Conifer had discovered the cabin. 
Fortunately for his purposes, all the rustlers were 


182 


GRACE HARLOWE 


now in the cabin excitedly discussing the escape 
of their prisoner, and considering what they had 
better do. It was the opinion of the wiser ones 
that Brown never would be able to find the place 
again, which was probably true, and that the 
other prisoner was still in their possession. It 
was decided, therefore, to keep a sharp lookout 
and collect all the money from the Overlanders 
that they possibly could, then dispose of the man 
they still held. It would not do to let that man 
get away. 

As it developed later the two rustlers who had 
shot at each other had missed, whereupon their 
companions intervened and peace was restored, 
as Sam Conifer learned a few moments later 
from such snatches of conversation as he could 
catch. 

The old guide crept up the granite slope a noise¬ 
less shadow, and as he neared the open door of 
the cabin he crouched with every faculty on the 
alert, his right hand twitching, eyes slowly search¬ 
ing the faces of the men under the light of a 
lantern swinging from a beam in the center of 
the room. Sam raised himself erect and glided 
noiselessly to the door. There he stood for a full 
minute, his gaze shifting from one to another of 
the men gathered there and finally coming to rest 
on the dark, swarthy face of one who looked to 
be a Mexican, and whose attitude and peremptory 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 183 

speech plainly showed that he was the leader of 
the party. 

“ I’ve been thinkin’. The boy’ll be home 
prob’ly some time in the morning, but he can’t 
be ’lowed to git thar. We’ve got to put a man 
on his trail with a light, bad as it be to do thet, 
an’ run him down afore he gits thar. Bad-Eye, 
it’s up to you to do the job, an’ if ye do it right, 
the boy’ll be a dead dude by mornin’. If he ain’t 
I’ll go git him myself, fer he ain’t no good.” 

“ I reckon ye lie! ” 

It was a thunderbolt, hurled at them by Sam 
Conifer from the doorway, and half a dozen hands 
flew to as many revolver holsters. 

“ Put ’em back! ” 

The command was uttered with an incisiveness 
that cut like a keen-edged blade, and the hands 
of the mountain ruffians sagged away from their 
holsters ever so little. 

“ I’ve got somethin’ to say to ye cayuses fust. 
After I gits finished ye kin shoot. Ye’r a fine 
bunch of mavericks, ain’t ye? ” drawled Sam. 


184 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER XIX 

A DUEL IN THE DARK 

RDINARILY long before this every gun 



in the room would have been trained 


on the intruder, but something re¬ 
strained them. Perhaps it was the easy, con¬ 
fident manner of the man in the doorway. Then 
again, they well knew that a man who would 
voluntarily face that assemblage, and expect to 
get away with it, must have supreme confidence 
in himself. Whether or not that confidence was 
well placed, they proposed to find out sooner or 


later. 


“ I been lookin’ fer ye fellers,” announced Sam. 
“ Now that I’ve found ye we’ll have a little con¬ 
fab, so don’t git smart an’ feel fer yer guns, ’cause 
somethin’ might happen. This heah right hand 
o’ mine, though it’s all crinkled up with the 
rheumatiz, now an’ ag’in gits mighty nervous, an’ 
it might throw a gun afore I could stop it. Jest 
like this ”: 

His heavy Colt revolver flicked into Sam Coni¬ 
fer’s hand as if by magic, and lay trembling there 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


185 


in his palm. Then it slipped smoothly towards 
his finger tips as if doing so of its own volition, 
spun and slid without an apparent movement of 
the arm, always moving, now like a flash of light, 
then with slow easy grace, but, as it was ob¬ 
served by the keen eyes of the watchers, with the 
muzzle ever pointed towards him of the swarthy 
face. 

As the weapon slipped back into its holster, and 
the rheumatic hand of the old guide lay trem¬ 
bling on its butt, a look of relief passed over the 
face of the dark mountaineer. 

The others in the cabin looked their amaze¬ 
ment, for few there had ever seen a gun handled 
as this old, stoop-shouldered intruder handled his. 
It was a revelation, though not a pleasant 
one. It was a warning as well, but they were 
watching him — watching and waiting for that 
moment when the old man's alert, shifting glances 
should wander from some of them for a few 
golden seconds. 

“ Say, ye feller! Who be ye? ” demanded the 
dark man. “ What do ye mean by holdin' up 
a bunch o' honest prospectors? ” 

Sam Conifer grinned sardonically. 

“ Honest, did ye say? You don't know the 
meanin' o’ that word. Them’s queer words cornin' 
from the lips o' Mexican Charlie." 

The dark man started, flushed and reached for 


186 


GRACE HARLOWE 


his weapon, but thinking better of it, permitted 
his hand to slip back to its former position. 

“ I wants to know whar the boy is? Mex, I 
ask ye, whar is he? ” 

“ I don’t know.” 

“ Ye lie, Mex! Yer too yellow to draw at thet 
word. Whar’s my pard, Jim? ” 

“ I tell you I don’t know nothin’ ’bout what yer 
talkin’,” flung back Mexican Charlie. 

“ Ye lie twice, but yer too yellow to draw at 
thet word,” reiterated Sam. “ I knows thet the 
boy got away, but whar did he go? ” 

“ Don’t know nothin’ ’bout it. Who be ye? ” 

“ Leavin’ the lie fer the moment, ye ought to 
know me, Charlie. You an’ me has met afore, 
but a long time ago an’ times has changed me, 
but yer the same low-down houn’ thet ye always 
was. I’ve growed some fresh whiskers since ye 
last seen me, an’ fer reasons. Look sharp, Mex! 
Look under the whiskers and mebby ye’ll see a 
scar thar,” urged the old guide, lifting his whiskers 
with the left hand. “ Do ye see it, Mex? ” 

The mountaineer nodded, but he was puzzled. 
That scar seemed to bring back the past, but 
Mexican Charlie plainly could not fix the thing 
in his mind. 

“Mex! Ye put thet scar thar. It was up in 
the Klondike years ago, and ye give it to me when 
I wasn’t lookin’. Ye got away then an’ ye know 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


187 


why, cause my hand wasn’t all crinkled up with 
the rheumatiz like it is now. But listen, Mex! 
I’ve been waitin’ fer ye, knowin’ thet some day 
you an’ me would meet up with each other an’ 
then we’d talk it all over nice an’ friendly like. 
I didn’t recognize ye when ye come to our camp 
t’other night an’ told us ye come from Malcolm 
Hornby with orders fer us to git out ’cause we was 
on his property. Ye lied then, too, jest as you’ve 
been doin’ tonight. Mex, I’m Sam Conifer! ” 

The announcement was like a blow in the face 
to Mexican Charlie. Mex knew his torturer now. 
To the others the announcement meant nothing 
except as they saw how nervous it had made their 
leader. 

“ Do ye know what I’m goin’ to do now, Mex? ” 
purred Sam. 

“Yer goin’ to git out o’ here afore somebody 
shoots ye up! ” shouted the mountaineer. 

“ Shore I be, but not yit. Fust, I’m goin’ to 
give ye the same kind o’ scar that ye give me up 
in the Klondike. Turn yer head round sideways 
jest as I was doin when ye give it to me,” urged 
Sam gently. 

“ Yer wrong, pard. I ain’t the man ye think 
I be. I never seen ye before,” protested Charlie. 

“ I’m speakin’ to ye, Charlie! Be ye goin’ 
to turn yer head or must I turn it fer ye after 
I’ve put ye in condition to turn? ” 


188 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ I’ll kill ye fer this! ” hissed the mountaineer. 
“Yer a coward, an’ ye wouldn’t dare talk to me 
like thet if things was equal. 

“ No, things ain’t equal, eh? Heah ye be, six 
of ye an’ I only one man; each of ye armed an’ 
lookin’ fer a chance to kill me, but not darin’ to 
try it, though I ain’t got a gun in my hand no 
more than ye fellers has. No, things ain’t equal. 
Draw, ye sneakin’ coyote! I’ll not touch my gun 
till your’n is out o’ the holster. Draw, you 
coward! ” 

Enraged beyond further endurance, and taking 
advantage of the visitor’s apparent relaxation, 
Mexican Charlie snatched at his gun, fumbled it 
in his nervous excitement, then jerked it free. 

Like a flash of light the nervous hand of Sam 
Conifer flicked his own weapon out and two guns 
roared, one a fraction of a second ahead of the 
other. Mexican Charlie clapped a hand to his 
neck, as his weapon fell to the floor. 

“ Steady, fellers! We ain’t finished our little 
talk yit,” warned Sam. “ Mex’s got it right whar 
he give it to me an’ he don’t like it. Neither 
did I. Tie yer handkerchief ’bout yer neck, 
Charlie, an’ we’ll finish what we got to say to 
each other, an’ this time ye’ll talk right out in 
meetin’ cause thar’s some things I’ve got to know, 
among them, who is bossin’ this heah gang o’ 
rustlers, an’ hoss thieves, an’ fellers thet —” 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


189 


Sam did not finish his sentence. A rifle some¬ 
where outside of the cabin roared, and the lantern 
swinging overhead crashed to the floor, leaving 
the room in sudden darkness. 

Revolvers began to bark, weapons aimed at the 
spot where Sam Conifer had been standing. The 
firing was fast and furious for a moment, then 
the voice of Mexican Charlie was heard above the 
uproar. 

“ Git out! On the jump! ” he shouted. 

The rustlers made haste to obey, some going 
out by way of the door, others taking to the rear 
and out by the lean-to in which Stacy Brown 
had been held a captive. 

A moment later Sam Conifer rose from the 
floor where he had thrown himself on the instant 
when the light went out, and stole out. Sam 
did not go far, only to the base of the granite 
slope, at one side of which he crouched down and 
waited. Sam could not understand that shot. 
Why, if it were a friend of the rustlers, did the 
fellow not shoot him instead of shooting out the 
light? After a time a light began to dawn on the 
old guide. He uttered a low whistle signal that 
had been agreed upon between himself and his 
companions. 

The signal was properly answered. 

“ Come heah, but do it keerful like,” ordered 
Conifer. 


190 


GRACE HARLOWE 


After a few seconds a voice called out softly. 
It was the voice of Two-gun Pete. 

“ Thet you, Sam? ” asked Pete. 

“ Yes. Whar’s that bunch o’ ruffians? ” de¬ 
manded the guide. 

“ They’ve hit the trail on their ponies, an’ 
some of ’em had to be helped into their saddles, 
I reckon. Our fellers aire back heah in the bushes. 
They was waitin’ till I sized things up an’ —” 

“Look heah, Pete! Be you the critter thet 
shot out the light jest when I was holdin’ a 
friendly conversation with thet bunch? Be you 
him? ” 

Pete admitted that he was the man. 

“ Thar was a feller in thar thet had his gun 
out and was gittin’ ready to let you have it,” 
explained Pete. “ I reckoned thet I didn’t want 
to kill the critter. Somehow I don’t like to let 
go at a feller when he ain’t lookin’. It ain’t good 
sport; so I jest shot out the light, knowin’ thet 
you’d be out of range instanter if things went off 
thar, which they did.” 

“ Thet’s what I calls a low-down trick, Pete. 
No gent would butt in when another gent is 
holdin’ a private conversation, but I forgive ye. 
Lead me to our bunch. Be they all heah? ” 

Pete said they were, and conducted Sam to 
them. Tom, Hippy and Idaho eagerly plied the 
old guide with questions, all talking at the same 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


191 


time. They conversed in low tones, for no one 
knew at what moment they might be overheard 
by mountain prowlers, for none had great faith 
in the flight of the men that Sam Conifer had 
held up. They were expected to return seeking 
for revenge. 

Sam was troubled, though the Overlanders were 
happy in the thought that Stacy had escaped. 
They reasoned that by this time he must be well 
on his way to the Circle O ranch. Sam, on the 
other hand, was worried about Jim. He believed 
that Jim must be somewhere about, and, after a 
few moments’ further conversation with his com¬ 
panions, started for a prowl about. In the mean¬ 
time Two-gun and Idaho kept watch to guard 
against surprises. 

The old guide’s search lasted for more than an 
hour. Upon his return he announced that he 
couldn’t find the slightest trace of Jim, and that 
he could do nothing more until daylight. The 
night passed without the party being disturbed, 
and with daylight all hands were out before break¬ 
fast continuing the search. 

The cabin was the first object of their inquiry. 
After searching it and finding nothing of interest, 
except the message that Hippy had sent by one 
of the pigeons, they proceeded to the lean-to. 
The first object to interest them there was Stacy 
Brown’s hat. 


192 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ I reckon the fat boy went away in a hurry,” 
suggested Pete. 

“ An* somebody cut the ropes thet held him,” 
added Idaho. 

“ He cut ’em hisself with the axe,” averred 
Sam, whose eyes had taken in every detail in one 
sweeping glance. “ I knowed the kid would fool 
’em if he got half a chance. But whar’s Jim? If 
they’ve done fer him I’ll foller thet bunch till 
I gits every one of ’em, if it takes me all the rest 
of my life. But Jim ain’t daid. I’ll tell ye, Cap’n 
Gray, and all the rest of ye, I love thet pard o’ 
mine like I never didn’t love no one else.” 

“ Then why do you fight each other all the 
time? ” questioned Hippy laughingly. 

“ Why, ain’t thet the way? What t’other way 
could a couple of fellers show thet they love each 
other? Ye wouldn’t expect ’em to git mushy, 
would ye? No. Ain’t no t’other way ’cept to 
arg’fy an’ fit it out. Why, Jim an’ me have got 
so het up now an’ ag’in thet we drawed guns on 
each other, an’ one time Jim shot at me, but 
thet critter never could shoot. All he kin do is 
to foller a trail, but thar ain’t a man lives thet 
kin beat him at thet. The time he shot at me, I 
was so all-fired tickled to think I’d riled him till 
he drawed, thet I jest chucked my gun an’ grabbed 
him an’ hugged him till we both got to laughin’. 
Thet’s the only time we ever come nigh gittin’ 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


193 


mushy like a couple o’ gals/’ finished Conifer, who 
stroking his whiskers, turned and strode out to 
the edge of the gulch that dropped away at the 
rear of the lean-to. 

Hippy looked at Tom and Tom looked at 
Hippy, then both burst into laughter. 

“ Can you beat it? ” chuckled Hippy. 

Tom Gray agreed that he could not. Sam was 
out of range of both their words or their laughter, 
absorbed in his study of the surrounding moun¬ 
tains and gorges. His forehead wore a heavy 
frown, and, as he looked he thought, with all the 
concentration that he could summon, trying to 
evolve a theory to find a solution of the mystery 
of his companion’s disappearance. No answer 
came to him. 

Two-gun Pete, who was listening to the con¬ 
versation of the two Overland men, suddenly 
reared his head attentively. 

“ Did ye hear it? ” he demanded. 

The Overlanders nodded. The distant report of 
a rifle had been heard by all, but as there was 
no repetition of it they again fell to talking. 

“ Wha — at! ” cried Lieutenant Wingate, 
springing to his feet when, a moment later, Sam 
Conifer came staggering in. “In the name of 
Mike, what’s happened? ” 

The old guide’s face was covered with blood 
from the forehead down, which served to accen¬ 
ts - Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


194 GRACE HARLOWE 

tuate the pallor that showed in the narrow strip 
above it. 

“ Sam! What is it? ” begged Tom Gray. 

“ Nothin' much ’cept —” The words ended in 
a moan, and old Sam Conifer, staggering forward 
a pace, crumpled down to the floor and lay still. 


CHAPTER XX 

STACY WIELDS A CLUB 

S TACY BROWN’S face wore a serious ex¬ 
pression as his captors started away with 
him. His pony was free, but there were 
men ahead of and behind him, men whose faces 
were stem and threatening. The rifle had been 
taken from the boot of his saddle and his revolvers 
were gone. He was as helpless as a child, but the 
fat boy was watching for an opportunity to escape. 

“Where are you taking me?” he demanded 
after they had galloped on for the better part of 
an hour. 

“ You’ll see when you git thar,” was the brief 
reply. 

“You don’t say,” retorted Chunky, whereupon 
he was ordered to keep silent. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


195 


Soon after that a collection of ranch buildings 
was seen nestling below in the foothills, which 
were regarded with interest by the Overland boy 
as his captors headed for them. As they neared 
the ranch, a few men appeared and with shaded 
eyes watched the approach. When the captors 
finally pulled up before the ranch, a thin, tall, 
bronzed man came out and bent a keen gaze on 
Chunky. 

“ What have you got heah? ” he demanded. 

“ Feller we caught with the mustang thet was 
stolen the other night,” replied one of the captors. 

“So? A hoss thief, eh?” 

“ Fm not! ” objected the fat boy indignantly. 

“ So? Mebby he is your horse, eh? ” 

Stacy admitted that it was not his horse. 

“Where did you get him?” snapped the 
rancher. 

“ I helped myself to him — took him because 
I wanted to get away from a bunch of ruffians.” 

“ Where was that?” 

Stacy said he didn't know, but that it was in the 
mountains on the edge of a red gulch, and further 
admitted that he didn't know much about the 
country there and would feel fully as well satis¬ 
fied if he didn’t know as much as he did. 

“ What's your name? ” 

“ Name's Brown. What's yours? ” 

“I am William Crawley, the owner of this 


196 


GRACE HARLOWE 


ranch, and the pony you are on is my property. 
I don’t suppose there is any use in questioning 
you, for a fellow who will rustle horses will lie 
as well as steal. I’ll hear what you have to say, 
however.” 

“ If you don’t mind, suppose you untie me and 
let me get down. I don’t like to be hung up this 
way ’cause it gets tiresome.” 

“ I reckon you will have plenty of time to rest, 
young fellow,” answered the rancher, grinning 
sardonically. “ Let him down. Has he guns on 
him? ” 

A member of the party said that they had taken 
his weapons from the boy, and explained in detail 
how they happened to discover him helping him¬ 
self to food in the chuck-house up on the range, 
to all of which Rancher Crawley listened atten¬ 
tively. He turned to Stacy again. 

“Tell me what you wish about yourself and 
I’ll listen,” he said. 

“What’s the use? You won’t believe me,” 
protested Stacy. 

“ As you wish. It doesn’t make much difference 
what you say. You will have to tell your story 
to the sheriff at Carrago, for we’re going to send 
a man for him today.” 

“ I belong to the Overland Riders. We ride 
somewhere every summer,” began Stacy hurriedly. 
“This summer we chose the Bad Lands in the 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


197 


Cosos, but I reckon that, had we known how bad 
they are, we should have stayed away. We have 
been hanging out with Joe Bindloss, and the rest 
of my party is over there now. We have a camp 
pitched just back of his house where the garden 
ought to be, but isn’t.” 

“ How about it, Skip? ” interrupted the rancher, 
turning to one of his men. “ You was over there 
this morning.” 

The man replied that there was no camp back 
of Bindloss’s house, and that, further, no one was 
there when he dropped in. 

Bill Crawley smiled sarcastically. 

“ You see! A hoss thief can’t tell the truth,” 
he reiterated. 

“Neither can some other people,” flung back 
Chunky heatedly. “ I’m telling you the truth, 
and I don’t care whether you believe me or not, 
but if you are half so smart as you think you are 
you will know that I am telling no lies. I don’t 
have to be a horse thief. I’ve got money, I’d 
have you know.” 

“ Most hoss thieves have,” agreed one of the 
cowpunchers. “ What were you doing in the 
mountains alone?” 

Stacy, though weary and out of patience with 
all this, explained that while out with Bindloss’s 
men on the round-up, he was roped and carried 
into the mountains where he was held prisoner 


198 


GRACE HARLOWE 


while a gang of rustlers tried to get his com¬ 
panions to pay a ransom for him. He told about 
the carrier pigeons, and the money that the ruf¬ 
fians had collected by means of the birds. As he 
talked the grins on the faces of the cowpunchers 
grew broader. They had never heard a fairy tale 
quite so ingenious. Bill Crawley’s face wore an 
expression of weariness. 

“ Young fellow, I’ve heard some liars in my 
time, but you win! ” he declared. “ Take him 
over to the hay barn and lock him in. If he tries 
to get out, shoot him! ” 

“ If you were alone with me you wouldn’t 
dare say that, you bluffer! ” retorted Chunky, his 
cheeks flushing with anger. 

“ What’s that you say? ” demanded the rancher, 
taking a step toward the boy, his chin thrust out 
belligerently. 

“ Oh, nothing much,” muttered Stacy. “I 
reckon I was talking in my sleep.” 

“ Lock him up. And, Skip! Get a bite to eat, 
then hit the trail for Carrago. You ought to get 
back some time tomorrow forenoon, but bring the 
sheriff with you. We’ve got one of the rustlers 
that have been stealing stock from us this 
summer, and, young fellow, we’re going to send 
you to jail. You’re lucky that you aren’t shot! ” 
was Crawley’s parting word. 

Stacy was yanked nearly off his feet by a cow- 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


199 


puncher and hauled protesting to the barn, a 
structure that was built with the idea of keeping 
thieves from stealing from it. He was thrown 
violently to the floor as his jailer hurled him into 
the place, and the door was slammed behind him 
and locked. 

There were tears of anger in the eyes of the fat 
boy as he sat up and rubbed himself. 

“ I wish I had a gun! Oh, I wish I had a gun l 9X 
he raged. 

After the peak of his rage had been passed, 
Stacy began to take account of his surroundings. 
On either side of him were huge mows of hay 
already laid up for the stock that would have to be 
wintered on the ranch, but finally, weariness over¬ 
coming him, the Overland boy stretched out on 
the barn floor and went to sleep. He did not 
awaken until twilight when a boot, coming into 
violent contact with his person, brought him up, 
once more in a belligerent mood. 

“ Heah's yer chuck,” announced the cow- 
puncher. “ I hope it chokes ye! ” added the man, 
backing out and locking the door. 

The sight of food made Stacy forget his troubles 
for the time being, and he helped himself freely 
of the liberal meal. Upon second thought, the boy 
stowed part of the food in his pockets, thinking 
it might be useful later on, for he had hopes of 
making his escape. 


200 


GRACE HARLOWE 


After finishing his meal he climbed the ladder 
to the top of the hay loft and floundered about 
in the faint light for some time, hoping to find 
a window. There was none. Getting down, he 
tried the mow on the other side of the barn, but 
with no better results, whereupon Chunky re¬ 
turned to the floor and sat down, head in hands. 

“ Tomorrow, if I am here, I’ll be on my way to 
jail,” he reflected. “ Of course it will all come 
out right. They won't keep me there long, but 
I don't like the idea of going to jail when there 
is so much going on over in the valley. Besides, 
a fellow doesn’t get very good food in these 
western jails, so I’ve heard. I’ve got to get out 
of here. That’s flat! ” 

The Overland boy got up and leaned against the 
hay wagon that stood on the barn floor. One 
hand came in contact with one of the pins, oak 
pins about a yard long, that keep the hay on the 
rack when loading. He pulled the pin out and 
felt over its entire length. It was smooth, worn 
so from long usage, and the feel of it was good 
to Stacy Brown. It was something that might 
be used for a weapon as well as a tool. With 
it he tried to pry open the barn door, but the 
door would not budge. Once more the fat boy 
was at the end of his resources, but as he stood 
leaning against the door, he heard some one fuss¬ 
ing with the lock. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


201 


Stacy was instantly on the alert as some one 
opened the door. 

“ Hey, ye hoss thief! Whar be ye? The 
boss reckons as I’d better start for Carrago with 
ye now so as to git thar in the mornin’ an’ git 
back in good season.” 

“ All right,” replied the lad, yawning. 

“ What you doin’ heah by the door? ” de¬ 
manded the man. 

“ Maybe I was trying to get out. What? ” 
laughed the fat boy. 

“ I don’t reckon as you’ll be gittin’ out till ye 
go with me, an’ don’t ye try any monkeyshines, 
’cause I’ve got er gun in my hand an’ I’ll use it 
on ye, ye cheap rustler. Git ’round in front of 
me whar I kin see ye! ” 

“ I’ll bet you I get away,” answered Chunky, 
“and I’ll have the law on this outfit for what 
it has done to me! ” 

Whack! He brought the oak stick down on the 
head of the cowpuncher. 

The fellow went down in a heap, whereupon 
Stacy Brown stepped out, closed and locked the 
door behind him and walked calmly away. 

“When I get riled I’m a pretty bad man,” 
admitted the Overland boy, chuckling to himself. 


202 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER XXI 

JUDY BRINGS TIDINGS 

T first the two Overland Riders in the 



mountain cabin thought Sam Conifer had 


X JL been mortally wounded, but after they 
had pulled themselves together, washed his face 
and examined his wound, they decided that it 
might not be so serious after all. A bullet had 
laid about four inches of the forehead open, but 
did not seem to have done the skull injury. 

Sam was placed on blankets in the cabin, and 
the two Overlanders worked over him until he 
regained consciousness. While they were doing 
this Two-gun Pete and Idaho, rifles in hands, 
skulked about outside, trying to discover the man 
who had fired the shot that got Sam. Not know- 
ing what position the old guide was standing in 
when hit, they were unable to determine the 
direction from which the bullet had come, and 
were about to return to the cabin to see if Sam 
had come to, when Pete uttered a yell. 

“ Git down! ” he shouted. 

At the same instant, Idaho heard the report of 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


203 


a rifle and threw himself down. Pete was already 
on the ground, hat in hand, and looking at it 
ruefully. He held it up for his companion to see. 

“ Put er hole plumb through it,” he growled. 
“Thet miserable cayuse! I hope I git a squint 
at him over the sights of my rifle. But, man, 
he shore kin shoot! ” 

“ Whar do ye think it come from? ” asked 
Idaho Jones. 

“ From Pother side of the gulch. Must be 
usin’ a telescope rifle, for no man with open sights 
could make two shots like thet. He might do 
it once, but not twice. I call thet some shootin’. 
No wonder he got old Sam. Ye keep watch. I’m 
going in to tell the Dude an’ Cap’n Gray ’bout 
this heah,” announced Pete, making a run for the 
protection of the rocks about the cabin. 

He found Sam awake. The Overlanders had 
heard the shot, and met Pete with a quick inquiry 
about it. Two-gun Pete exhibited his hat as the 
answer to their question. 

“ I come in to ask ’bout Sam. I reckoned as 
mebby you’d like to have somebody go down to 
the valley an’ git help fer him.” 

“ Not unless you wish to get away from here, 
which I don’t believe you do,” replied Tom Gray. 

“ I reckon I don’t — not onless it’s to save a 
pard’s life. Is he bad off — goin’ to pass in? ” 

“No, I ain’t, you miserable galoot! ” answered 


204 


GRACE HARLOWE 


Sam Conifer heatedly. “ I’m goin’ out purty soon 
to hunt fer a man, an’ when I finds him —” 

“Not today, Samuel,” differed Hippy. 

“I be! ” insisted the injured man. 

“I reckon what the Boss says goes ’round 
heah,” reminded Two-gun Pete. “ I’ll git out 
an’ keep watch.” 

Soon after that Conifer, his head bandaged up 
as best the two men could do it, went to sleep, 
and the Overlanders fell to considering what they 
ought to do. They decided, in the first place, 
that Idaho and Pete should go out and make 
further search for Jim, following the direction 
taken by the outlaws when they rode away in 
such haste. Hippy thought that he and Tom 
could protect their camp and care for Sam at the 
same time, and perhaps, by the following day, 
there would be help from the Circle O ranch. 

Tom reminded him, that, not knowing where 
they were, no assistance could be looked for from 
that direction. This had not occurred to Hippy. 

Pete and Idaho did not return until just before 
dark. They had found not the slightest trace 
of the other guide, but they were delighted to 
see Sam sitting up. Nothing had been seen of the 
rustlers, but Two-gun Pete advised that the party 
move out of the cabin and go into camp farther 
up in the mountains, as otherwise they were more 
than likely to be attacked before morning. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


205 


Hippy and Tom moved Sam with some mis¬ 
givings, but the old guide stood the ride without 
admitting the slightest suffering because of it. 
That night they made camp without building a 
fire, and lay down in the open, deciding that in 
the morning they would return to the cabin 
and again make it their headquarters while con¬ 
tinuing the search for Jim. 

In the meantime the long absence of the party 
was beginning to cause the Overland girls and 
Bindloss some worry, for not knowing where their 
companions had gone, it was not possible to get 
into communication with them. 

By the following morning worry had grown 
into genuine alarm, and ways and means for 
doing something were discussed by the rancher 
and his guests. No conclusion was arrived at, but 
shortly after luncheon their hopes were raised by 
a dust cloud down the valley. The cloud soon 
grew into a horse and rider, and as it neared them 
the rider was recognized as Judy. She was coming 
fast — her mustang running at top speed. 

“Judy’s excited about something,” said Bind¬ 
loss, a frown wrinkling his forehead. 

The same thought was in the mind of each 
Overland Rider. Perhaps Judy was bringing news 
from the party that went in search of Stacy and 
Jim. 


206 


GRACE HARLOWE 


The mountain girl indulged in no fancy horse¬ 
manship that afternoon. She rode straight up 
to the porch of the ranch-house and threw her¬ 
self from the saddle. 

“ Give me a drink of water. I’ve swallered a 
quart of dust,” was her greeting. 

“ Is — is anything wrong? ” begged Nora. 

“Mebby everythin is. Hello, Pap Bindloss. 
Ain’t grown any better lookin’ since I was here, 
be you? ” 

“ What’s the matter, Judy? ” he asked, ignoring 
her fling at him. “ I know something is wrong.” 

She gave him a quick flashing look. 

“ You see too dad-gasted much for an old man. 
Ah-h-h-h! That water tastes good. Where’s yer 
folks, Miss Gray? ” she asked casually, and 
emptied the glass of water. 

“ They went into the mountains to look for 
Stacy Brown and Jim. We haven’t seen them 
since, and we are worried,” replied Grace. 

“ A-huh! How’d they know whar to go? ” 

No one answered, and Judy gave them a quick 
searching look. 

“ Tryin’ to hide up on me, eh? Wal, I don’t 
reckon as it’s any good for you to do so, ’cause 
mebby I can tell ye some things that may be good 
fer ye to know.” 

“You know something about them, Judy?” 
demanded Miss Briggs. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


207 


“ A-huh. Did they go up to Red Gulch? ” 

“Yes, yes! ” cried the girls in chorus. “Judy, 
do you know where that place is? ” questioned 
Emma. 

“ Reckon I could find it if I tried, but I don’t 
reckon whether I want to try or not. It’s a long, 
hard hike up thar, and thar won’t be no picnic 
when you get thar. My Pap says it ain’t a fit 
place fer folks to be, but Pap was mad with me 
afore he went away this mornin’ and threatened 
to give me a punch in the jaw, but he changed his 
mind when I pulled my gun and told him to try 
it. Wal, Pap didn’t. He went away madder’n a 
busting bronco. Said he wouldn’t be back fer a 
few days. He said some things ’bout ye folks 
that I don’t ’low nobody to say ’bout my friends, 
an’ I said so right out in meetin’, and added a 
few other things, and that started the row. Say, 
I got some news fer you folks.” 

“Then for heaven’s sake tell it!” begged 
Emma. “ You are killing us with suspense.” 

“ I reckoned that way,” nodded the girl. “ Wal, 
I heard it this mornin’ fer the first time, ’bout 
your folks goin’ up in the mountains, and why 
they went thar and all ’bout it. Funny, wasn’t 
it, that I should hear it? I ain’t going to tell you 
whar I heard it, but I did. You don’t reckon 
anythin’ happened to them, do you, Pap Bind- 
loss? ” 


208 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ Judy, I think you can answer that question, 
and that you have come here to help my friends,” 
replied the rancher. 

“ Fer why do ye think that? ” 

The rancher pointed to the rifle in Judy’s 
saddle boot. 

“Are you going hunting, Judy?” he asked 
significantly. 

Judy flushed and turned to the girls. 

“ I reckon I better tell ye now what I come 
heah to say — what I heard this mornin’. Wal, 
it was this way: Your folks and some rustlers 
had a fight in the mountains last night. It warn’t 
much of a fight, but I heard that Sam Conifer 
had been killed and thet Miss Gray’s husband and 
Hippy had been shot and that there was liable to 
be trouble at Red Gulch, and I reckoned that I 
was your friend and that you folks needed a 
friend right now, and that’s why Judy Hornby is 
heah.” 

Nora Wingate, uttering a moan, toppled over in 
a swoon, the other Overland girls gazing at the 
mountain girl in a stunned sort of way, while 
Judy fumbled awkwardly with her sombrero. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


209 


CHAPTER XXII 

RIDERS OF THE NIGHT 

N O heed was given to Nora Wingate’s 
faint, and for several seconds no one 
spoke. 

“Gosh a-mighty! ” exploded Joe Bindloss. 

“ Judy, are you positive that your information 
is correct? ” asked Grace in a voice well under 
control. 

“ Ain’t positive of nothin’. Be you? ” 

Grace shook her head and smiled faintly. 

“ Mr. Bindloss, of course we shall have to go* 
None of us can stay back now. Judy, will you 
guide us to the Red Gulch section? ” 

“ That’s what I’m heah for, Miss Gray. I 
reckoned as you’d be doin’ jest that. If I had a 
man I’ll bet I’d hit the trail fer him when I heard 
he was in a mess. How did yours ever git up to 
Red Gulch? ” 

“ He followed the pigeons,” answered Grace. 

“ A-huh! ” 

Joe Bindloss, at this juncture, announced his 
intention of accompanying the Overlanders into 

14 - Grace Harlowe at Circle 0 Ranch 


210 


GRACE HARLOWE 


the mountains. He did not know where Red 
Gulch was, but if Judy said she knew, that settled 
it. The girls brightened at his suggestion, and 
Nora sat up pale and trembling, asking what had 
happened. 

She was told that she had fainted. Grace 
turned to Judy and asked if they were to start 
at once, but the mountain girl shook her head. 

“ We got to wait till night and make a night 
ride,” she said. “ Pap Bindloss knows why.” 

“ Oh, I can’t wait! ” wailed Nora. 

“ Judy is right,” spoke up the ranchman. 
“ Besides, we have some things to do here. I 
can’t spare any men from the range, so we shall 
have to do the work ourselves. We must break 
your camp and store your equipment, for the 
rustlers will discover, after we leave here, that 
the ranch is unguarded and come down on it. 
Understand? ” 

Grace nodded. Judy tethered her pony and 
announced that she would assist them, and the 
work of striking the Overland camp began. The 
equipment was packed for moving, but instead 
of being lashed to the backs of mustangs, Joe 
Bindloss carted it to the ranch-house on his buck- 
board. The work took a good part of the after¬ 
noon, following which the rancher rode out to 
his nearest grazing grounds where he acquainted 
one of his foremen with the situation. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


211 


Judy Hornby not only did her share of the 
work, but kept up the spirits of her companions 
with quaint sayings and sharp-witted replies 
to questions. 

Food sufficient for their needs was packed, and 
by supper time all was in readiness for the start. 
Before leaving, the mountain girl and the rancher 
held a brief consultation, at which she told him 
of her plan. Bindloss agreed to it. Up to this 
time Judy had given her friends no further in¬ 
formation as to the source of the news that had 
come to her, though occasional attempts had been 
made by Grace and Elfreda to draw it from her. 

The start was made shortly after dark, the 
riders setting out in pairs at some little distance 
apart. Judy kept to the base of the foothills 
where the mountains cast a heavy shadow so that 
the movements of the party could not be seen from 
the valley in the light of the new moon. Instead 
of riding directly into the hills, the mountain girl 
rode parallel with them for fully five miles. Grace 
asked her why she did this instead of taking the 
direct line that had been followed by the carrier 
pigeons. 

“ Mebby that trail is watched,” answered Judy. 
“We got to go ’round and come up by a longer 
way. You folks leave that to me. I ain’t sayin’ 
that we ain’t goin’ to be caught, but if we are we 
got rifles and I knows how to use mine. 


212 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ So do we,” returned Grace. “ I hope it may 
not be necessary, though.” 

Finally a sharp turn into the mountains was 
made, and for a mile or two Judy followed a gash 
in the hills. 

“ We got to climb now,” finally announced their 
guide, and it proved to be a real climb. A brief 
halt was made to rest the animals, after which 
the journey was resumed. The going from there 
on was over rough ground, and it was a marvel 
to the Overland Riders how Judy Hornby picked 
her way in the darkness and kept in the right 
direction. 

As a matter of fact Judy was using the stars 
for her guide, which enabled her to follow the 
general direction in which she wanted to go. 

Another halt was made at midnight. The girls 
were shivering, and Emma asked if they could not 
build a fire and warm up. 

“No! You’ll git warmed up before you git 
through with this,” answered Judy. “ Might git 
warm most any time now.” 

No halt was made from that time until just 
at break of day. Then Judy left the party for 
half an hour to take an observation. She re¬ 
turned briskly and announced that they could 
make a small fire and have coffee, but she built 
the fire herself, being careful not to make enough 
smoke to attract attention. 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


213 


“ Folks, we aire within a mile of the Red Gulch, 
and I reckon you better keep your eyes open from 
now on. I'll ride on ahead, so watch me. Pap 
Bindloss, you watch the sides and the trail be¬ 
hind. Nobody do any loud talkin',” advised Judy, 
after they had warmed their hands by the little 
cook-fire, and drunk their hot coffee. All mounted 
and rode away much refreshed, and with a gentle 
glow now suffusing their bodies. 

The Overlanders now observed that Judy had 
unlimbered her rifle, so they did the same, carry¬ 
ing their weapons resting across their saddles, gun- 
butts to the right. Judy wound in and out among 
the rocks and trees, sometimes being out of sight 
for a moment or two, then coming into view 
again, until finally she held up her hand and sat 
listening. The others halted near where her pony 
stood nibbling at the green leaves within its 
reach. 

“ You all stay right heah. Fm going on to 
scout hound a little. Pap, you stay with the 
girls.” Judy tossed her bridle-rein to him and 
slid from her saddle, taking her rifle with her. 
She was out of sight in a few moments, and the 
Overland Riders sat in uneasy silence straining 
their ears for warning sounds. 

When Judy returned her face wore a perplexed 
expression. 

“ Folks, they ain’t there.” 


214 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ Aren’t where? ” asked Miss Briggs. 

“ Whar they was supposed to be. I got a good 
look at the cabin, but couldn’t see nobody, an’ 
couldn’t find any ponies anywhar ’bout, though 
I see whar they’d been tethered. Would you folks 
know the tracks of yer horses? ” 

Grace said she did not think they would, not 
having had these animals long enough to be 
familiar with them. 

“ I can pick ’em out,” volunteered Bindloss. 

“Good! Come with me. You folks kin ride 
up so you kin see the place whar the cabin is 
an’ —” 

“ What cabin? ” questioned Emma. 

“ One of the places whar the rustlers hang out, 
an’ whar I reckons that battle was fought. But 
you got to keep quiet.” 

Bindloss dismounted and followed the girl, 
leaving the Overlanders alone and very much 
worried. The couple were gone for some time; 
then the Riders saw them returning, the rancher 
striding rapidly along, Judy following him 
thoughtfully. 

“They’ve gone, folks!” he announced. 
“ Neither hide nor hair of them left. I got into 
the cabin, and there was bullet holes, fresh ones, 
showing that there had been some, shooting there. 
I reckon there was blood on the floor. It looked 
like it.” 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


215 


“ Anything else? ” asked Grace, regarding him 
keenly. 

“ Nothing like what you mean,” answered 
Bindloss understanding^. “ I found the tracks 
of my ponies, and we ain’t far from their trail 
right this minute. It looks to me as if your party 
has headed for home, and Judy agrees with me. 
There was five ponies in that bunch and they was 
all mine. That looks mighty queer to me.” 

“ Is it not possible that it was not our friends 
who were riding the animals? ” asked Miss Briggs. 

“ I reckon so,” returned the rancher absently. 
“However, there’s only one thing for us to do, 
and that is to follow the tracks and watch out.” 

While he was speaking, Judy had started off 
on foot. She was gone for some time. Upon her 
return she announced that she had picked up the 
trail, and mounting, she directed her companions 
to fall in behind her. Bindloss rode a little to 
one side of the mountain girl, and in a few minutes 
she pointed out the trail to him. He got down 
to examine it, and said the faint hoof-prints were 
those of ponies from his corral. 

From that time on fairly rapid progress was 
made, until the trail grew more difficult to follow. 
There were straggling cedars about them and on 
beyond a forest of pines that formed a great green 
canopy. The season had been dry and the long 
mountain grass under the sun’s rays had burned 


216 


GRACE HARLOWE 


to a dull brown, but the grass was tough and 
traveling through it made it necessary for the 
ponies to lift their feet high, giving a jolting 
effect to the riders that was extremely trying. 

Bindloss suddenly halted. 

“ I hear shooting! ” he exclaimed. 

“ So do I,” agreed Grace. 

The reports sounded far away, but Bindloss 
and Judy knew that the firing was not so far away 
as the Overlanders believed. 

“ Do you know where you are — do you know 
the mountains here? ” asked the rancher. 

Judy shook her head and said she had never 
been so far into the mountain country before, but 
that she had a general idea of where they were. 
Suddenly she wheeled her pony and started away 
towards the scene of the firing, as well as she 
was able to locate it. The others followed, each 
with straining ears and tingling nerves. They 
were soon rewarded by the realization that they 
were rapidly approaching the gunfire. Bindloss 
halted them with a gesture, and sat listening. 
The party was only now at the edge of the pine 
forest along which they had been skirting, but 
there were pines to the right and left of them, 
beautiful, fragrant pines, nodding to the stiff 
mountain breeze that was blowing. The wind 
died down, then sprang up again from a different 
direction. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


217 


Judy’s mustang whirled, threw up its head and 
snorted, and the pony ridden by the rancher began 
to buck under the restraining grip on the bridle- 
rein and sundry jabs from the spur, while the 
mounts of the Overlanders showed signs of panic. 

A moment more and every mustang in the 
party was sniffing the air and snorting. Bindloss, 
leaning forward in his saddle, gazing back over 
the ground that they had covered, saw that a 
curtain of bluish shade had been drawn over their 
late trail. The curtain was quivering, punctuated 
here and there by faint spurts of red. 

Judy Hornby’s mustang uttered a whistling 
blast of fear, and reared on its hind legs. 

“ Fire! ” cried the mountain girl. “ They’ve 
set the grass on fire! ” 

“Ride!” yelled Joe Bindloss. “It’s coming 
fast! ” 


218 


GRACE HARLOWE 


CHAPTER XXIII 

RACING WITH DEATH 

ONE knew better than the rancher and 
the mountain girl the peril that lay 
behind that waving, quivering blue 
haze. The only avenue open to them lay by way 
of the dark aisles between the pines, for the blue 
haze, as they quickly discovered, had crept up 
on either side as well as to the rear of them. 

“ Into the forest! ” shouted Bindloss, giving his 
pony rein, while Judy held in her bucking mount 
until her companions got under way. 

The Overland girls were too frightened to start, 
but their mustangs, taking matters into their own 
hands, lunged forward and were in amongst the 
pines a few seconds later, dodging here and there 
to avoid trees, until their riders were clinging 
with knees and hands to keep from being un¬ 
seated. 

A thin streak of yellow smoke wriggled over¬ 
head, followed by a crackling, hissing sound, and 
the wind whipping in the tree tops carried the 
smoke on ahead. The fire had overtaken them, 





AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


219 


had run up the trunks of the trees at the edge 
of the forest, and was leaping from tree to tree 
over the heads of the Overland Riders, while here 
and there to the rear great pines exploded with 
terrifying sounds. 

The Overland Riders, despite their torturing 
fear, were thrilled. The blood beat in their 
temples and their hearts were pounding. They 
began to understand what this race meant — it 
was a race with death, and its long arms were 
waving above them waiting to swoop down and 
enfold its victims. 

“ Faster! ” Judy’s shrill command was plainly 
heard above the roar. She turned in her saddle 
and beckoned to her companions, not certain that 
they had heard. It was then she saw that the 
haze was enveloping them and that the outlines 
of horses and riders were growing fainter. Judy 
reined in her mount and waited. 

“Ride faster! Use the spur! Drive ’em! 
Drive ’em! ” she yelled as the girls swept past 
her, each one now urging on her mount with 
sharp cries. The riders now plainly felt the heat, 
the breath of the fire on their cheeks. So did 
the horses feel it, and they were frantic. 

The tough little mustangs as they swept on 
needed no urging. They were giving all that 
was in them to save their own lives, but it 
seemed to be an unequal battle. The Overland 


220 


GRACE HARLOWE 


Riders were not panic-stricken, but a great fear 
was in their hearts, yet not one gave way to her 
feelings. Perhaps it was because they had no 
time to do so, for it required close attention to 
prevent being unhorsed as their ponies made 
sudden swerves to avoid fallen trees or low- 
hanging branches. The Overland girls were thus 
kept fully occupied, and it was plain to Judy 
Hornby that they were in no danger of losing 
their heads. 

Above the noise, she and Bindloss again heard 
the crack of rifles. It was a scattering fire, but 
it was fast. Occasionally an interval would occur, 
during which the firing seemed to cease, to be 
resumed again a moment later. 

“ They are riding ahead of us. Look out! ” 
shouted the rancher, swerving close to the moun¬ 
tain girl. 

Judy nodded, and spurred on until she was 
abreast of the racing pony of Elfreda Briggs, who 
had lost her hat, and whose hair was whipping in 
the air behind her. 

“ Something going on ahead! Watch out! 
Watch me fer orders. Tell the others. I got to 
git ahead ag’in,” directed Judy. 

Elfreda shouted the message to Grace, and 
Grace passed it to the girl nearest to her, which 
proved to be Emma. Nora was too far to one 
side to be reached, but her pony could be trusted 



221 














































222 


GRACE HARLOWE 


to follow the others if any radical change of direc¬ 
tion were taken. 

Daylight suddenly showed faintly through the 
haze — the light of an open space. Joe Bindloss 
uttered a yell, hoping that they might there find 
rock footing and an end of the fire. Instead, his 
mustang burst out into a vast brown field, a 
grazing ground many acres in extent, from which 
rugged passes branched out in the distance. 

As the riders emerged close on the heels of the 
rancher and Judy, a scene met their gaze that 
thrilled them anew. 

Two bodies of horsemen, like themselves, were 
fleeing from the fire, which for some unknown 
reason had not yet leaped into the brown grass 
of the grazing range, and as they rode, both bodies 
of men were shooting. 

It was a battle, a running battle with rifles. 

Judy in one quick glance comprehended the 
situation and she saw more than did any others 
of her party. She knew the men off there were 
part of the band of rustlers who for so long had 
been a thorn in the side of all honest ranchers 
in the two great grazing valleys of the Cosos. 
She saw more than that — the verification of 
suspicions that she had harbored for some time, 
but that had crystallized only twenty-four hours 
before. 

At about the same instant the Overlanders also 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


223 


made a discovery. The party of horsemen directly 
in front of them were quickly identified. 

“ It’s the boys! ” screamed Nora. 

“ Ain’t dead, neither,” cried Joe Bindloss. 

The Overland Riders pulled down their ponies. 

“ Keep going! ” roared Bindloss. 

“ If we do we shall be shot! ” wailed Nora. 

“ If you don’t you’ll be roasted! ” retorted the 
old ranchman. 

It was a difficult choice. To go forward meant 
that the Overland party would place themselves 
directly in the line of fire of the mountain ruffians, 
but to hold back meant that the forest fire in a 
few moments would be sweeping over the field. 
They decided to go forward, and in a moment 
their ponies were racing towards Tom Gray and 
his companions. 

The fire was now roaring across the brown 
meadow. The Overland men saw it and began 
drawing in on the rustlers, driving at them in 
an oblique line, firing as they put their ponies 
at top speed. The girls followed at one side of the 
line of fire, hoping thereby to escape being hit. 

A rustler toppled from his saddle. At the same 
instant Idaho Jones swayed uncertainly in his, 
but quickly recovered and again began working 
his rifle. Those who saw his hesitation knew that 
he had been hit. 

The rustlers were now in a thick haze, and were 


224 


GRACE HARLOWE 


giving ground as the ranchmen and Overland men 
bore down on them, pouring a heavy rifle fire 
into the closely bunched outlaws. They saw the 
rustlers whirl about facing their assailants to 
make a stand, but the firing was too hot for them 
and they fled. A mighty yell rose from the 
rustlers as all but two of them suddenly disap¬ 
peared from sight as if the earth had swallowed 
them. It was then that the pursuers discovered 
that their adversaries had gained rocky ground. 
No forest fire could reach them there. 

The two men who were still in view pulled their 
ponies to their haunches and swung about facing 
each other. The pursuers were amazed to see 
both men draw their weapons and begin shooting 
at each other. 

The Overland men and ranchmen instantly 
ceased firing, but continued on at full speed, for 
the flames were rapidly sweeping down on them. 
They had not yet discovered the presence of Judy 
and the Overland girls, but Judy had discovered 
that safety from the fire lay at the far side of the 
field, so waving a hand for her companions to 
follow she headed towards the scene of the savage 
duel. 

“Oh, it is awful!” cried Emma as her pony 
streaked past Miss Briggs and Grace. 

Judy was laying her crop over the flank of her 
mustang and uttering shrill cries to urge him on, 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


225 


and the first intimation that the ranchmen had 
of the presence of the Overland girls was when 
Judy flashed by them towards the duelists. 

“ Kill ’im, Pap! ” she yelled. 

“ IPs Mex! ” shouted Sam Conifer. 

At this juncture the Overland girls caught up 
with the pursuers and dashed to safety on the 
rocky ground. As they reached it Miss Briggs’ 
pony went down and Grace’s mustang leaped 
clear over her and her mount before she could 
check him. Tom Gray hurried to the rescue of 
Elfreda. 

“ You here? ” he cried. 

The roar of the fire, as it swept past over the 
brown meadow, smothered the words. 

One duelist, at this juncture, was seen to sway 
in his saddle, and at the same instant the other 
plunged headlong to the ground. The first man’s 
pony jumped and he too was unhorsed, then both 
duelists laboriously raised themselves to their 
elbows, and the duel was resumed. At the second 
exchange of shots, one sank back and lay still. 

Judy jumped her pony forward, and throwing 
herself from the saddle ran to the living man and 
pillowed his head in her lap. 

“Gosh a-mighty! ” roared Bindloss. 

The men of the ranch party were on the scene 
in a few seconds, but still being ignorant of the 
cause of the sudden disappearance of the body of 

15 - Grace Harlowe at Circle O Ranch 


226 


GRACE HARLOWE 


rustlers kept their weapons at ready. Some of 
them now rode cautiously forward to see what had 
become of the missing men. 

“ Stop! ” shouted Two-gun Pete. “ I know 
whar they’ve went to. The gang forgot ’bout the 
gulch thar, if they knowed ’bout it at all. Least¬ 
wise, they didn’t see it in the smoke till it war too 
late, an’ over they went. They won’t rustle no 
more steers, I reckons, bad luck to ’em.” 

The whole party was now gathered about 
the mountain girl. The dead man, those who 
now knew him, was identified as Mexican Charlie. 

“ It’s Pap,” said Judy when they peered down 
into the face of the man whose head lay in her 
lap. She gazed up at the Overland girls with a 
pitiful look in her face. 

Hornby opened his eyes, recognized her and 
began to speak. 

“ That’s all right, Pap. Don’t say it,” begged 
Judy. 

“ I got ter talk, Kid. I’m sorry I made ye mad 
yesterday. I told ye thet them friends of yours 
war shot at Red Gulch ’cause I knew the rest of 
their gang would be up heah, an’ we’d git ’em 
all. I wish we had! I wish we had, but-the 
boys got looney ’cause your friends could shoot 
better’n they could, and ran over the edge.” 

“Why did you an’ Mex fight, Pap?” asked 
Judy. 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


227 


“ ’Cause he said I’d double-crossed him, an’ 
sent his gang to death to git rid of ’em, too. Then 
we fit. He set the fire, but I told him to.” 

“ Oh, Pap! How could you? These folks 
ain’t never meant you no harm. They ain’t done 
nothin’ but fight when you made ’em,” protested 
the mountain girl. 

“Yes, they did! They come up heah lookin’ 
fer trouble. They wanted to drive us out er 
business. I know ’cause I had it from a feller 
who knowed. An’ ye helped ’em, Judy! ” he ex¬ 
claimed, blazing up into her face with something 
of the old fire in his eyes. 

“ You bet I did, Pap. My friends is my friends, 
an’ I’d do it ag’in,” she answered calmly. 

“ I don’t bear ye no grudge fer thet now, Kid, 
’cause it’s too late. I got mine this time, an’ 
I’m goin’ out the way I always reckoned I would, 
with my boots on an’ facin’ the crack o’ the 
guns.” 

As he talked, Hornby’s voice grew halting, and 
there were pauses of a few seconds between words. 
It was plain to all that he was weakening fast. 

“ May I try to do something for him, Judy? ” 
begged Miss Briggs gently, as she bent over the 
wounded rustler. 

“No!” Hornby put all the strength that he 
could summon into that one word. “Ye been 
lookin’ fer the man who war the leader of the 


228 


GRACE HARLOWE 


rustlers. Heah he is! I’m thet man, and as it’s 
my dyin’ words, I beat ’em all at the game. Git 
ba — ack thar! ” The rustler groped with un¬ 
certain fingers for his weapon, whereupon Judy 
laid a firm hand on his arm. 

“ No, Pap! You’ve done enough,” rebuked the 
girl. “ You’ve said enough, too, an’ Judy Hornby 
never again kin hold her head up nor look honest 
folks in the face. They’ll say her Pap was a 
rustler an’ — an’ — ” 

“Judy! Please don’t,” begged Grace. “He 
is dying! ” 

“I — I reckon you’re right.” Judy fell to 
stroking the outlaw’s hair. “ That’s all right, 
Pap. You’re my Pap. Miss Gray is right.” 

“No! I got ter tell ye while I can. Judy, I 
ain’t yer Pap. Nor yer mother warn’t yer 
mother. I stole ye when ye war a little thing 
cause the man who was yer Pap had done me 
dirt. We raised ye, an’ Judy, we havin’ no 
children of our own, begun to like ye fer yerself 
an’ we kept ye, though at first we didn’t reckon on 
doin’ jest that. We reckoned on gettin’ rid — ” 

“No — ot my Pap?” stammered the girl. 
“Who, then — who is my Pap?” cried Judy. 
“Tell me! Ye got ter tell me! Who is my 
Pap? ” Her voice rose threateningly, then sank 
almost to a whisper. “Pap, dear! Who is my 
real Pap? ” 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


229 


“ He — he — he war — ” 

The voice grew faint, and though the girl bent 
her ear close to the lips of the dying man, she 
failed to catch the whispered words, and the secret 
that Malcolm Hornby had kept for so many years 
died with him there by the scorched meadows of 
the Cosos over which, like a shroud, hung a 
suffocating pall of yellow smoke. 

Old Joe Bindloss lifted the little mountain girl 
to her feet, and, with hands on her shoulders, 
brought her face to face with him. 

“ I ain’t got no Pap now,” she murmured. “ I 
ain’t got no friends, no nothin’ that a girl wants 
so much.” 

Grace Harlowe slipped an arm about her. 

“Yes, you have, Judy. We are your friends, 
now and always,” said Grace gently. “ And I 
think you have a Pap that you haven’t reckoned 
on,” she added, nodding towards Joe Bindloss. 

For a moment the old rancher and the mountain 
girl stood gazing into each other’s eyes, then he 
drew her, unresisting, to him and lightly touched 
her forehead with his lips. 

“Oh, Pap!” sobbed Judy, her arms slipping 
about the neck of Old Joe Bindloss as she buried 
her head on his shoulder. 


230 


GRACE HARLOWS 


CHAPTER XXIV 

FAREWELL TO THE COSOS 

* HE Overland Riders and the men from 



the Circle O ranch walked to the edge 


of the precipice and looked down. The 


girls shivered and quickly turned, facing the other 
way, while the men gazed solemnly into the 


abyss. 


“ How’dy, folks, 1 ” greeted Jim. “ Ain’t seen ye 
fer a week o’ Sundays. Ye see that no ’count 
pard o’ mine got his’n,” he chuckled, nodding at 
Sam, whose head was still swathed in bandages. 

“ Yes, but what happened to you? ” questioned 
Emma. “ It would appear that you too got 
something.” 

Jim explained that he had been roped from his 
pony, carried into the mountains and secreted in 
a cave where the pigeon cotes were located. It 
was the wire-covered pigeon-yard just outside of 
the cave, well masked with foliage, that the Over¬ 
land men and the ranchers, in their hunt for Jim, 
had stumbled upon, and that led to finding the 
missing guide. That was where the outlaws 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


231 


caught them, and, had not the men from the ranch 
been on the alert, would have made a quick 
finish of them. 

Tom told the Overlanders of Sam's battle with 
the rustlers in the mountain cabin, of the further 
search for Jim, and of the culminating experience 
when a running battle with the rustlers was 
engaged in. 

“ Stacy!" cried Nora in sudden recollection. 
In the excitement of that memorable morning she 
had forgotten about the fat boy. 

“He got away the night we come up heah,” 
Sam Conifer informed her. “ I reckons he's got 
home afore this, an' that he’ll stay thar. They 
was goin' to drop him into Red Gulch, an' I 
reckon he thought it war time to leave." 

At this juncture, Miss Briggs asked permission 
to look at the wounds of the party. Sam's 
wounds were doing well, but needed professional 
care, which Elfreda gave to them on the spot. 
She next dressed Idaho Jones' arm, which was 
bleeding from a bullet wound. Barring a few 
slight flesh wounds where bullets had narrowly 
missed doing serious injury, the other fighters 
were unharmed. 

“ You now have the whole story," announced 
Tom Gray, as she finished. “ The rustlers, thanks 
to their own carelessness, have taken a bad job 
out of our hands." 


232 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ What a terrible death! ” breathed Grace. 
“What about these?” she added, pointing to 
Mexican Charlie and Malcolm Hornby. “Shall 
I consult Judy about — about her fa — about 
Hornby? ” 

Tom shook his head. 

“You girls go on and take care of her. We 
will do all that is necessary to be done,” he made 
reply. 

The Overland girls returned to Bindloss and the 
mountain girl, who was clinging to the hand of 
the old rancher, a deep pallor showing under the 
tan on her face. Emma slipped a hand into hers, 
and Judy turned a wan face to the little Overland 
girl, but the face wore a faint smile. 

“ It's all fixed, Emma,” she said, nodding. 
“ I’m Judy Bindloss now. Leastwise I’m goin’ to 
be as soon as my new Pap kin git the papers 
made out. I don’t see no reason fer doin’ that, 
do you? ” 

Miss Briggs, as a lawyer, tried to explain to her 
why it was very necessary, but the mountain girl 
shook her head. 

“ He’s my Pap. It seems like he always was 
and no papers can’t make him more so. Pap, 
let’s go home.” 

The ponies were led along for some distance, 
to give them rest while -the party were talking, 
and for the further purpose of giving the men 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


233 


back there opportunity to do their work and join 
the Overland Riders. 

The party finally being complete, Pete led the 
way across the blackened landscape to the old 
cabin. Reaching there, they laid up for a rest, 
and after luncheon Judy told them the story of 
her father, Malcolm Hornby, so far as she knew 
it. 

Certain recent occurrences had made her suspect 
that Hornby was in league with the rustlers, but 
the night before she brought warning to the 
Overland girls that Tom and Hippy were 
wounded, she heard a conversation between her 
father and Mexican Charlie in which her suspicion 
became a certainty. From that conversation she 
learned that much stock had been stolen from 
Bindloss, and that by making a “ Q ” out of the 
Circle 0 ranch brand and adding another “ Q,” 
the marking conformed with Hornby’s brand, 
after which the stolen cattle were added to his own 
herd. He had, with the assistance of the moun¬ 
tain ruffians, carried on wholesale thievery in two 
great valleys for several years and made money. 
His reward had been reaped that day, and it had 
been coming for some time, because Mexican 
Charlie and he were rapidly nearing the breaking 
point just before the last attack on the Overland 
Riders, who were the indirect cause of breaking 
up the gang of mountain ruffians. 


234 


GRACE HARLOWE 


That there were others of the gang still at large 
the ranchmen knew, but Judy could give them 
no information on this point. It was decided, 
therefore, to ask the aid of the sheriff and his 
deputies, as well as that of other ranchers, to 
form a big party and comb the mountains for the 
other ruffians, who, now that the backbone of the 
band had been broken, could be driven more easily 
from that region, and perhaps some of them 
captured. 

In the early afternoon the journey home was 
begun. Judy did not accompany them all the 
way, saying that she wished to stop at her former 
home and get some personal belongings, she 
promising to ride back to the Circle O ranch on 
the following morning. Judy wished to be alone 
that night, and the Overland girls, at least, 
understood. 

Circle 0 was reached before dark, and Stacy 
Brown, who had gained entrance to the ranch- 
house, which he had reached only a few hours 
before, met them at the door. The “ fat boy ” 
was thin, there were hollows in his cheeks, and a 
livid mark on the left cheek where a bullet had 
left its trail. 

Stacy had been hunted all the way across the 
mountains, and shot at on several occasions, but 
had always outwitted his pursuers until finally 
they gave up the man-hunt and returned to the 


AT CIRCLE O RANCH 


235 


Diamond Bar ranch. Hungry and worn out and 
after considerable suffering he finally reached 
Circle 0 only to find it deserted and the Overland 
camp broken up. 

Now, however, that the opportunity was at 
hand to glorify his own achievements, Stacy 
Brown made the most of it, and out in the yard 
in front of the ranch-house, he declaimed loudly 
on his own prowess in fooling his pursuers. 

Stacy was still engaged in this before an 

interested audience when a rider approached from 
the valley, but no one gave heed to him, believing 
him to be one of Bindloss’s men. The rider dis¬ 
mounted at the stable and walked towards the 
group, his eyes fixed on Chunky. He halted just 
behind the boy and stood regarding him 

frowningly. 

“ Well, sir, what is it? ” demanded Joe Bindloss 
sharply. 

Stacy, in the midst of a loud boast, turned to 
look at the man behind him. The words died on 
his lips as he Came face to face with the new¬ 
comer. It was Skip, the fellow on whose head 

Stacy had brought down the wagon stake at the 
Diamond Bar ranch. 

The Overland boy's face grew a shade paler, 
and he made a move as if to run, but the pressure 
of a revolver against his stomach sent the shivers 
up and down his back and literally froze him. 


236 


GRACE HARLOWE 


“ Here! Here! ” roared Joe Bindloss. “ What 
do ye mean? ” 

“ This feller’s a hoss thief. We kotched him on 
a hoss that had been rustled from the Diamond 
Bar ranch. He got away by cloutin’ me over the 
haid. We follered, but he was too slippery fer 
us. I been lookin’ fer him ever since, an’ now 
I’ve got him! ” 

“ Put down thet gun, pard! ” drawled Sam 
Conifer, and Skip found himself gazing at the 
muzzle of the old guide’s weapon. “ Put it down, 
I says! ” 

The caller shoved his weapon into its holster, 
and Stacy Brown drew a long breath of relief and 
then quickly stepped back a few paces. 

“ This man is no more a thief than you are! ” 
exploded Bindloss. “ He is one of my friends, 
and that’s all there is to it.” 

“I got to take him back,” persisted Skip 
stubbornly. 

“Listen to me, young fellow!” commanded 
Bindloss, who thereupon repeated the story that 
Chunky had told them, adding further informa¬ 
tion of his own. 

“ Thet’s what the critter told us back at the 
ranch. We reckoned he lied, an’ I reckon so too.” 

“Drop thet talk!” warned Sam Conifer. 

Joe Bindloss after some farther argument told 
the visitor that he would write a letter to Bill 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 237 

Crawley, owner of the Diamond Bar ranch, fully 
explaining the matter, but in no circumstances 
would Skip be permitted to take Stacy with him. 

“ And that’s flat!” finished the rancher 
sternly. 

“ Thet’s all right, Boss, but what ’bout this? ” 
he demanded, exhibiting the lump that Stacy had 
left on the top of his head. “ I got ter have saters- 
faction fer thet, I reckon.” 

“ I’ll hit it again if you say so,” offered Stacy, 
but the boy met a quick rebuke from his 
companions. 

“Look here, my man! How much do you 
want for satisfaction? ” interjected Tom Gray. 

“Wal, I reckon ’bout two bucks ’ll satersfy 
me,” answered Skip, tenderly caressing the lump. 

“ Stacy, shell out! Give the man two dollars,” 
ordered Lieutenant Wingate. Stacy demurred, 
but there was no avoiding payment. He tried 
to borrow the money, but not one of the Over¬ 
landers would give him a cent, so Stacy Brown 
reluctantly parted with two silver dollars. 

The letter was written by Grace at Bindloss’s 
dictation, and half an hour later Skip headed back 
towards the Diamond Bar ranch, not only with 
the letter and two silver dollars in his pocket, but 
with a request from Bindloss that Bill Crawley 
and his men join with the Circle 0 men in making 
a final drive on the rustlers. 


238 


GRACE HARLOWE 


It was early to bed that night at the Circle 0, 
for all hands were worn out. On the following 
morning the girls had a long talk with Joe 
Bindloss. It was decided that the Overlanders 
should remain at the ranch while the ranchers 
drove out the last of the rustlers. 

Judy came in in time for luncheon that day. 
The girls saw that she had been weeping, but 
made no comment. It w T as then that they 
broached the subject that had been discussed with 
Judy's new “ Pap." Grace and Elfreda wished to 
take her back east with them and show her some 
of the world that she had so often dreamed of 
seeing. 

At first Judy was obdurate, but the thought 
grew and Bindloss urged, so, before the departure 
of the Overlanders two weeks later, Judy had said 
“ yes." 

The drive of the ranchers proved successful in 
ridding the Cosos of rustlers, though only one man 
was captured. The others had fled, following the 
disaster to Hornby and his immediate gang, and 
the drive of the ranchers. 

The journey of the Overland party, following 
the recovery of Hippy and Sam from their wounds, 
lasted until mid-September when the great day in 
Judy’s life arrived. The Overland Riders had 
returned to the ranch to pick her up, and to, 


AT CIRCLE 0 RANCH 


239 


arrange for returning Joe Bindloss’s ponies to him 
at the railroad station, and, after a day’s rest at 
the ranch-house, they set out for the east — and 
home. Judy wavered at the last moment, but 
finally rode away with her friends, waving her 
sombrero to the rugged old rancher, and trying to 
laugh through her tears. The world that Judy 
had so yearned for lay just before her, and after 
a winter with the Overland girls she was destined 
to return much benefited in every way, but with 
a fuller realization that her duty to herself and to 
her new “ Pap ” lay in the beautiful Valley of 
the Cosos. 

There was still a large measure of adventure 
before Grace Harlowe and her young friends, and 
to which every member of the party was already 
looking forward for the coming season. The 
story of these adventures will be related in a 
following volume entitled, “ Grace Harlowe’s 
Overland Riders Among the Border Guer¬ 
rillas,” where, in the Guadalupe Mountains, 
they encounter experiences that make the story 
replete with interest that cannot fail to hold the 
undivided attention of the reader. 


THE END 




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a start with the first volume. 

1. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE RANCH; or. 

The Boy Shepherds of the Great Divide. 

2. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS’ GREATEST ROUND¬ 

UP; or, Pitting Their Wits Against a Packers’ Combine. 

3. THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE PLAINS; or. 

Following the Steam Plows Across the Prairie. 

4 . THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS AT CHICAGO; or. The 

Conspiracy of the Wheat Pit. 

THE BOYS OF STEEL SERIES 

By JAMES R. MEARS 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

In thi* splendid series the great American steel industry is exploited by 
a master pen. The author put in much time studying conditions at the 
iron mines, on the transportation routes and at the big steel mills. He has 
made of these volumes a series of romances with scenes laid in the iron and 
steel world. Each book presents a vivid picture of some phase of this 
great industry. The information given is exact and truthful; above all, 
each story is full of adventure and fascination. The steel industry today 
offers a splendid field for the efforts of really bright American youths. 
There are great possibilities of careers in this line of work; the brightest 
who enter may in time win some of the highest incomes paid in this coun¬ 
try. And the work is full of fascination throughout. 

1. THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES; or. Starting at the Bottom of 

the Shaft. 

2. THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN; or, Heading the Diamond Drill 

Shift. 

3. THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; or, Roughing It on the 

4 . THE IRON BOYS IN THE STEEL MILLS; or, Beginning Anew in 

the Cinder Pits. 












THE CIRCUS BOYS SERIES 

By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

No call to the heart of the youth of 
America finds a readier response than the 
call of the billowing canvas, the big red 
wagons, the crash of the circus band and 
the trill of the ringmaster’s whistle. It 
is a call that captures the imagination of 
old and young alike, and so do the books 
of this series capture and enthrall the 
reader, for they were written by one who, 
besides wielding a master pen, has fol¬ 
lowed the sawdust trail from coast to 
coast, who knows the circus people and 
the sturdy manliness of those who do 
and dare for the entertainment of mil¬ 
lions of circus-goers when the grass is 
green. Mr. Darlington paints a true picture of the circus life. 

1. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; or, Making the 

Start in the Sawdust Life. 

2. THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; or. Winning 

New Laurels on the Tanbark. 

3. THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; or. Winning the Plaudits of 

the Sunny South. 

4. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; or, Afloat with the 

Big Show on the Big River. 

5 . THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE PLAINS; or, The Young Advance 

Agents Ahead of the Show. 

BOOKS FOR GIRLS 

THE MADGE MORTON SERIES 

By AMY D. V. CHALMERS 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

The heroines of these stories are four girls, who with en¬ 
thusiasm for outdoor life, transformed a dilapidated canal 
boat into a pretty floating summer home. They christened 
the craft “The Merry Maid” and launched it on the shore of 
Chesapeake Bay. The stories are full of fun and adventure, 
with not a dull moment anywhere. 

1. MADGE MORTON—CAPTAIN OF THE MERRY MAID. 

2. MADGE MORTON’S SECRET. 

3. MADGE MORTON’S TRUST. 

4. MADGE MORTON’S VICTORY. 












THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS SERIES 

By JANET ALDRIDGE 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Four clever girls go hiking around 
the country and meet with many thril¬ 
ling and provoking adventures. These 
stories pulsate with the atmosphere of 
outdoor life. 

1. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER 
CANVAS; or, Fun and Frolic in the Sum¬ 
mer Camp. 

2. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS 
COUNTRY; or, The Young Pathfinders 
on a Summer Hike. 

3. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT; 
or. The Stormy Cruise of the Red Rover. 

4. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS IN THE HILLS; or, The Missing 

Pilot of the White Mountains. 

5. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS BY THE SEA; or, The Loss of the 

Lonesome Bar. 

6. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ON THE TENNIS COURTS; or. 

Winning Out in the Big Tournament. 

THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS SERIES 

By LAURA DENT CRANE 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Girls as well as boys love wholesome adventure, a wealth 
of which is found in many forms and in many scenes in the 
volumes of this series. 

1. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; or, Watching the Sum¬ 

mer Parade. 

2. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; or, The 

Ghost of Lost Man’s Trail. 

3. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; or. Fighting 

Fire in Sleepy Hollow. 

4. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO; or. Winning Out 

Against Heavy Odds. 

5. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM BEACH; or. Proving Their 

Mettle Under Southern Skies. 

6. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON; or, Checkmating 

the Plots of Foreign Spies. 



The ^ 
Meadow-Brook 
Girls 

Under Canvas 

Janet Aldridge 
















THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 


The scenes, episodes, and adventures 
through which Grace Harlowe and her 
intimate chums pass in the course of 
these stories are pictured with a vivacity 
that at once takes the young feminine 
captive. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE’S PLEBE YEAR AT 

HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Merry Doings of 
the Oakdale Freshmen Girls. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE’S SOPHOMORE YEAR 

AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Record of the 
Girl Chums in Work and Athletics. 

3. GRACE HARLOWE’S JUNIOR YEAR AT 

Fast Friends in the Sororities. 

4 . GRACE HARLOWE’S SENIOR YEAR AT 

The Parting of the Ways. 

THE COLLEGE GIRLS SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Every school and college girl will recognize that the ac¬ 
count of Grace Harlowe’s experiences at Overton College is 
true to life. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE’S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE’S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

3. GRACE HARLOWE’S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

4 . GRACE HARLOWE’S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 

5. GRACE HARLOWE’S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS. 

6. GRACE HARLOWE’S PROBLEM. 

7 . GRACE HARLOWE’S GOLDEN SUMMER. 



HIGH SCHOOL; or, 


HIGH SCHOOL; or. 










THE GRACE HARLOWE OVERSEAS 

SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Grace Harlowe went with the Over- 
ton College Red Cross Unit to France, 
there to serve her country by aiding the 
American fighting forces. These books 
will interest every girl reader because 
they describe the great war from a girl’s 
point of view. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE OVERSEAS. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE RED 
CROSS IN FRANCE. 

3. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE MA¬ 
RINES AT CHATEAU THIERRY. 

4. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE U. S. 
TROOPS IN THE ARGONNE. 

5. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE YANKEE 
SHOCK BOYS AT ST. QUENTIN. 

6. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY ON THE 
RHINE. 

THE GRACE HARLOWE OVERLAND 
RIDERS SERIES 

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1.00 EACH 

Grace Harlowe and her friends of the Overton College Unit 
seek adventure on the mountain trails and in the wilder sec¬ 
tions of their homeland, after their return from service in 
France. These are stories of real girls for real girls. 

1. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE OLD 

APACHE TRAIL. 

2. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE GREAT 

AMERICAN DESERT. 

3. GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS AMONG THE KEN¬ 

TUCKY MOUNTAINEERS. 

4 . GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE GREAT 

NORTH WOODS. 



Grace Harlowe 
Overseas 
















WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS 

For little hands to fondle and for mother to read aloud. 
Every ounce of them will give a ton of joy. 

WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS SERIES 

1. MOTHER GOOSE NURSERY TALES. 

2. MOTHER GOOSE NURSERY RHYMES. 

3. A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES. Robert 

Louis Stevenson. 

4. THE FOOLISH FOX. 

5. THREE LITTLE PIGS. 

6. THE ROBBER KITTEN. 

7. LITTLE BLACK SAMBO. 

8. THE LITTLE SMALL RED HEN. 

9. THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 

10. THE LITTLE WISE CHICKEN THAT 

KNEW IT ALL. 

11. PIFFLE’S ABC BOOK OF FUNNY ANIMALS. 

12. THE FOUR LITTLE PIGS THAT DIDN’T HAVE ANY MOTHER. 

13. THE LITTLE PUPPY THAT WANTED TO KNOW TOO MUCH. 

14. THE COCK, THE MOUSE AND THE LITTLE RED HEN. 

15. GRUNTY GRUNTS AND SMILEY SMILE—INDOORS. 

16. GRUNTY GRUNTS AND SMILEY SMILE—OUTDOORS. 

WEE FOLKS BIBLE STORIES SERIES 

1. WEE FOLKS STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. In 

Words of One Syllable. 

2. WEE FOLKS STORIES FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT. In 

Words of One Syllable. 

3. WEE FOLKS LIFE OF CHRIST. 

4. WEE FOLKS BIBLE ABC BOOK. 

5. LITTLE PRAYERS FOR LITTLE LIPS. 

THE WISH FAIRY SERIES 

1. THE LONG AGO YEARS STORIES. 

2. THE WISH FAIRY OF THE SUNSHINE AND SHADOW 

FOREST. 

3. THE WISH FAIRY AND DEWY DEAR. 

4. THE MUD WUMPS OF THE SUNSHINE AND SHADOW 

FOREST. 

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED IN COLORS. PRICE, 50c. EACH 


















WEE FOLKS PETER RABBIT SERIES 


1. THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT. 

2. HOW PETER RABBIT WENT TO SEA. 

3. PETER RABBIT AT THE FARM. 

4. PETER RABBIT’S CHRISTMAS. 

5. PETER RABBIT’S EASTER. 

6. WHEN PETER RABBIT WENT TO 
SCHOOL. 

7. PETER RABBIT’S BIRTHDAY. 

8. PETER RABBIT GOES A-VISITING. 

9. PETER RABBIT AND JACK-THE-JUMPER. 

10. PETER RABBIT, JACK-THE-JUMPER, AND THE LITTLE BOY. 

WEE FOLKS CINDERELLA SERIES 

Rhymed and Retold by Kenneth Graham Duffield 

1. THE WONDERFUL STORY OF CINDERELLA. 

2. THE STORY OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 

3. THE OLDTIME STORY OF THE THREE BEARS. 

4. THE OLD, OLD STORY OF POOR COCK ROBIN. 

5. CHICKEN LITTLE. 

6. PUSS IN BOOTS. 

7. THREE LITTLE KITTENS THAT LOST THEIR MITTENS. 

8. JACK THE GIANT KILLER. 

LITTLE BUNNIE BUNNIEKIN SERIES 

1. LITTLE BUNNIE BUNNIEKIN. 

2. LITTLE LAMBIE LAMBKIN. 

3. LITTLE MOUSIE MOUSIEKIN. 

4. LITTLE DEARIE DEER. 

5. LITTLE SQUIRRELIE SQUIRRELIEKIN. 

6. OLD RED REYNARD THE FOX. 

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED IN COLORS. 



PRICE, 50c. EACH 




























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